Nouvelle Vague, 2025
Directed by Richard Linklater.
Starring Guillaume Marbeck, Zoey Deutch, Aubry Dullin, Adrien Rouyard, Antoine Besson, Jodie Ruth-Forest, Bruno Dreyfürst, Benjamin Clery, Matthieu Penchinat, Pauline Belle, Paolo Luka-Noé and Jade Phan-Gia.
SYNOPSIS:
After writing for Cahiers du cinéma, young Godard decides making films is the best film criticism. He gets Beauregard to fund a low-budget feature, creating a treatment with Truffaut about a gangster couple.
French Cinema in the late 1950s and early 1960s created a shockwave that reverberates to this day. The likes of François Truffaut, Agnes Varda, Jean Pierre Melville and of course Jean Luc Godard, changed what audiences and critics thought of cinema. The movement was, of course, the New Wave (Nouvelle Vague), and now Richard Linklater brings us his homage to this most impactful of movements with Nouvelle Vague.
The film follows Godard (Guillaume Marbeck), Truffaut and co. as they go about filming Breathless, a film that is one of the faces of the movement. Linklater has structured the film like a lost new wave picture, with the energy, verve, and style of the early sixties French pictures. However, is this style over substance, or a heartfelt homage?
We open with a clique of critics from Cahiers du Cinéma, wannabe directors themselves, discussing their move into moviemaking at Cannes. Not long after, Truffaut (Adrien Rouyard) had a huge hit on his hands with The 400 Blows. Godard decides now is the time to direct himself with Truffaut assisting on writing duties. This would form the start of Breathless, with few takes and a frenetic energy to it; the shoot caused chaos with the impulsive director, even on his first feature, avoiding sticking to script.
This is a loving homage to the films of the era, nods aplenty not just to Breathless but to the works of other directors and later Godard films. It is stylised partly like a documentary with name cards whenever a prominent figure in the movement appears, Linklater capturing the likeness for most to perfection. He perfectly mirrors the structure of the films of the era and makes this an evocative, incredibly stylish film to a fault. It is slightly more structured than some of the new wave films, with a wonderful jazz soundtrack, keeping the rhythm. At times, it can get lost, being overly referential and faithful to the auteurs it is appreciating, coupled with the number of cameos and nods.
While the homages will go down a treat for fans of the era, they may be lost on more casual viewers. Godard’s impulsiveness and impact, however, are perfectly channelled with a fine central performance from Guillaume Marbeck. Zoey Deutch is well utilised as Jean Seberg, co-star of Breathless, who is aghast at the unstructured nature of the shoot.
The most remarkable thing about Nouvelle Vague is how effortlessly Linklater manages a French-language film. It is clearly a labour of love for him and one that has a real charm and sense of fun to it. If it is not as groundbreaking as the films it is referencing, there is still much to admire in Linklater’s love letter to French Cinema.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Chris Connor
