My problems with this film, and the French New Wave in general

Understand that when I say "problems," I mean in terms of my own understanding -- I'm not insulting these films, I just can't seem to wrap my head around the cinematic logic of French New Wave. I had the same problem in understanding Takeshi Kitano years ago, but I've since come around and he's become one of my favorite directors. This is a request for help in understanding, not a flame toward the New Wave.

Essentially, my problem is this: with films like Pickpocket or Breathless, the first 95% of the film seems to consist of one tone, while their endings seem to drastically (almost randomly) shift directions during the final few moments.

For instance, Breathless (the violent opening notwithstanding) seems almost free-wheeling and carefree thanks to the jump-cuts and interaction between Michel and his girlfriend throughout most of the film; when the end comes and he is suddenly killed, it's dark, sudden, oppressive, and just doesn't seem to fit everything that came before it (Godard himself said that he originally wanted Michel to get away with the money, and only included the death scene to stay faithful to the genre of the American gangster flick).

Similarly, in Pickpocket, we spend 95% of the film with Ozu/Kitano-esque distance from Michel, projecting our own emotions onto him and watching his silent struggle through life, but when he finds love in the last thirty seconds of the film, it felt to me that it came out of nowhere. Had it not been for the opening narration which explicitly tells the audience that Michel and Jeanne will fall in love, I would have had no reason to assume any romantic chemistry between the two (thanks in part to their intentionally emotionally distant performances). We see Michel show the slightest hint of interest for Jeanne when he confronts her about not knowing he stole from his mother (and going so far as to call her an idiot), but why do they suddenly love each other by the film's end? Yeah, Michel gives her some money after returning from London, but he still acts more or less the exact same way toward her that he did before.

Perhaps my main concern falls with the sudden emotion, drama, and conventional film techniques Paul Schrader talks about in his intro: in the final moments of the film, Michel suddenly shows emotion, we suddenly get some movement, and the music finally reaches an emotional climax. Does this not rob the characters of their integrity, to a degree? Does it not make their change of heart seem that much more sudden and jarring, in a film which purports to meditatively examine the innerworkings of complex individuals?

I'm not sure what I'm missing, or what I SHOULD be looking for but aren't, but these two New Wave films in particular have caused me no end of grief. I do derive enjoyment from films like Jules and Jim, Breathless, and Pickpocket, but these New Wave films all abruptly and irrevocably change pace and tone in their final moments, in a way that, to me, makes the characters' motivations feel rather random and forced.

So, can anyone help me?