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
The latest from Oscar-nominated indie auteur Richard Linklater is an effervescent, meticulous recreation of the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s legendary 1960 feature debut Breathless, the film that heralded the arrival of the French New Wave.
Richard Linklater’s latest film (one of two premiering at TIFF, the other being Blue Moon) is a celebration of the French New Wave age of cinema that revolutionized films and introduced the world to names who became screen legends. Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) is a charming tale of the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s debut film À Bout De Souffle (Breathless) which helped usher in the New Wave and not only jumpstarted his career, but that of Jean-Paul Belmondo and is known as one of Jean Seberg’s best roles.
Right from the start Linklater’s film is compelling as it immediately draws viewers into Godard’s eccentric personality and visionary dedication to cinema. Guillaume Marbeck’s performance as Godard is both funny and delightful as he pushes the boundary of conventional filmmaking to some of his crew’s excitement while irritating Seberg and his producers. Even with his constant use of sunglasses no matter what time of day or scene, Marbeck conveys Godard’s admiration of film, irreverent humour and unorthodox way of filming throughout. It is a love letter to Godard and Marbeck has excellent chemistry with the whole cast, from Aubry Dullin’s Jean-Paul to Zoey Deutch’s Jean or his fellow New Wave filmmakers François Truffaut, Claude Chabrol and Suzanne Schiffman as played by Adrien Rouyard, Antione Besson and Jodie Ruth-Forest.
Dullin is equally charming as Jean-Paul, displaying great comedic timing as the lighthearted and enjoyable actor. He gives Jean-Paul the leading man energy he was known for while Deutch transforms as Seberg. Her screen presence is as undeniable as Seberg’s was through her quick wit, charisma and annoyance with Godard. The chemistry she shares with Dullin is one of the film’s most memorable aspects as they essentially play dual roles as the legendary actors as well as their À Bout De Souffle characters. Even when Seberg is confrontational with Godard, Deutch has fun with the role and makes it easy to see her point of view as well instead of just rooting for Godard by thinking she’s out of line. It is a really fantastic back-and-forth the trio have among each other that carries the film.
There are many other supporting characters from Godard’s assistant director Pierre Rissient, cinematographer Raoul Cotard and producer Georges de Beauregard among several cameos of other New Wave directors and actors, but the scope of the cast never feels too large as the focus remains on the core of Godard, Belmondo, Seberg and their immediate crew.
Linklater’s decision to also shoot in black and white with aspect ratio similar to the time helps make the audience feel as if they are in that age of filmmaking, bringing them behind the curtain to see just how much of a process it was back then. The cinematography is gorgeous and even utilizes many of the same techniques Godard used. The central messages of following an artistic vision and retaining creative freedom as opposed to churning out the same material or bowing down to heaps of studio demands is as relevant today as it was then, emphasizing how successful and revolutionary the New Wave was because of those desires to fight for the unconventional.
Nouvelle Vague is an enjoyable, charming and heartfelt film dedicated to the New Wave and what Godard and his colleagues did for the film industry. Marbeck, Dullin and Deutch are fantastic and lead a great cast. For a film about making films in such a particular age of cinema with an equally particular group of people it would have been easy to feel a pretentiousness among the story even if the filmmakers didn’t intend it, but Linklater’s earnestness is clear in every aspect of the film to serve as a love letter to filmmaking and the creative process.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Ricky Church – Follow me on Bluesky for more movie news and nerd talk.
