Breathless is a 1983 American romantic crime drama directed by Jim McBride and starring Richard Gere and Valérie Kaprisky. It is a loose remake of Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 classic, but instead of Paris it moves the story into a hotter, more restless American setting. Gere plays Jesse Lujack, a reckless small-time criminal obsessed with rock ’n’ roll, comic books and speed, while Kaprisky plays Monica, a UCLA architecture student who becomes caught between desire, danger and the possibility of escape. The film has a highly stylised, offbeat energy, mixing noir, romance and road-movie elements into something more playful and sensual than a conventional thriller.
The film was shot primarily in and around Los Angeles, and it makes strong use of the city’s early-1980s character rather than treating it as a generic backdrop. According to the AFI Catalog, filming included Venice Beach, Hollywood, Downtown Los Angeles and Westwood, including the UCLA campus, with additional locations in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Palmdale; some interiors were also shot at Zoetrope Studios in Los Angeles. More specific identified locations include Westwood streets around UCLA, Monica’s apartment building on Strathmore Drive, and the Venice area near Windward Avenue and Speedway, where the murals and beachfront atmosphere help give the film its distinctive sun-bleached, slightly dangerous California mood. The opening stretch also ties the story to Las Vegas, with Nevada sources listing locations connected to that side of the film’s setting, reinforcing the contrast between desert neon and the sprawling urban landscape of Los Angeles.
O’Neill House
The O’Neill House is best known as a filming location in two feature films: Breathless (1983) and 8 Million Ways to Die (1986).
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