2. Breathless
Jean-Luc Godard's best film is also widely regarded as his best, and stands as one of the most infleuntial works of the entire history of cinema. The scenario - of a young drifter, Belmondo, shooting a cop and spending the rest of the night hanging out with an American woman - might sound achingly familiar now, but that wasn't even the core appeal of Godard's film back then. Godard's revolutionary technical process - now popularly referred to as "cinema verite" - was a major shock to the system of the period's film audiences, eschewing basic cinematic techniques taken for granted - steadicam and coherent editing - in favour of jarring jump-cuts and handheld footage that drew attention to the fact that we were watching a film. Not entirely satisfied as a mere reaction to Hollywood's slick, confident pictures, Breathless is also a gorgeous monochromatic depiction of Paris, yet doesn't shy away from the darker side of its narrative either. Needless to say, while the film has a clear admiration for Humphrey Bogart's film noir pictures, it doesn't end up a might as happy as those flicks.