Breathless was filmed and produced in 1959 which was the very beginning of the French New Wave Movement. Breathless and  Jules and Jim, both produced by very similar directors of similar backgrounds, are claimed to be the two films that really set the tone for the entire movement. So what made Breathless so groundbreaking? It was ,of course, the ever popularized jump cuts. Many people believe there were 5 reasons for Godard's creation of this new editing technique. Here are the 5 summarized by yours truly. 

1. Godard had apparently filmed 8,000 meters when his producer said he could only film 5,000 meters. Godard was forced to cut major portions out of his film, and so jump cuts were accidentally created.
2. He thought the film was horrible, and would end up being a disaster so he chopped it up. By chopping it up and making it skip around he hoped the critics would be more astounded rather than disappointed and critical. Godard wanted the critics to think he was coming up with a new and far out style.
3. Godard himself wanted to shorten the film. He believed out of inexperience he had included too much, and it had gotten way too long. To compromise he just started flipping coins with his crew and cut random portions out. 
4. There was meaning behind each jump cut. Godard wanted to express Michel Poiccard's behavior and emotions through his jump cuts. Michel made a number of "moral jump cuts" so Godard wanted the film to be a series of jump cuts. For example, when Michel shoots the cop the audience never sees the actual act of violence. They see a gun being shot, and then it cuts to a cop lying on the ground in the bushes. The extra information is cut out because to Michel the actual occurrence is unimportant. Michel essentially does not care. 
5. Godard got tired of the old dingy french cinema. He wanted to start something new and refreshing like cubism in art or jazz in music. 

Something that really intrigued me throughout the film was Godard's obsession with faces. In multiple scenes he has the same repetition of a series of funny faces that Michel makes, and he always would have someone looking at themselves in the mirror. I've tried to figure this out myself but have only come up with a few theories. My first theory is Godard used all these face  and mirror shots to show how self centered and image dependent the main character Michel Poiccard was. Michel throughout the film is always wanting to be intimate with Patricia. So everything about him to me seems physical. My second theory is that Godard wants to be more intimate with his audience. By showing extreme close ups with shallow depth of field the viewers see a different point of view. They see the characters in a more familiar, and cozy light. Being close to someone's face, and seeing their every flaw is a sign of trust. Godard, I think, wanted the audience to feel a close connection with the characters. He did not want them to seem like perfect surreal beings in a perfect fictional world. So what do you think?