Nouvelle Vague

Greetings again from the darkness. Like most who obsess over cinema, I went through my French New Wave phase. Actually, binge is likely more accurate since the phase has yet to end. I'll always make time for Truffaut, Godard, Chabrol, Rohmer, Varda, and Demy. American director Richard Linklater clearly shares this fondness as he releases this homage on the heels of BLUE MOON, his other superb 2025 release. Co-writers on this film are Holly Gent, Laetitia Masson, Vincent Palmo Jr, and Michele Petin ... two of whom have previous collaborations with Linklater.

While Linklater shows us the many faces and names of those behind the movement, most of this story focuses on Jean Luc Godard and his quest to make BREATHLESS (1960). Godard is played by relative newcomer Guillaume Marbeck and the trademark sunglasses. Godard is a film critic turned writer turned director. In fact, we hear him repeat, "I have to direct", seeing as his goal to direct his first feature by age 25 has already been missed. He talks reluctant and skittish producer Georges de Beauregard (Bruno Dreyfurst) into financing the film by claiming Francois Truffaut (Adrien Rouyard) and Claude Chabrol (Antoine Besson) had co-written the script. Both men had successful films under their belts with THE 400 BLOWS and LE BEAU SERGE, respectively, so the producer viewed his risk as minimal.

Already a star at age 21, Jean Seberg (a terrific Zoey Deutch) finally agrees to join the cast, as does amateur boxer and new actor Jean-Paul Belmondo (Aubry Dullin). Linklater does a nice job in recreating the haphazard manner in which Godard worked. Of course, there was no script ... other than what he wrote each morning over breakfast. He was after spontaneity, and this caused a clash with Seberg. Much of how he worked would be considered guerilla filmmaking, and it's interesting to see how the cast and crew react to Godard's 'genius'.

Along with the music, Linklater and cinematographer David Chambille capture the authentic look and feel, and it serves as a tribute to the era, including ever-present cigarettes. The French New Wave, and especially Godard, offered a new vision for cinema. Their impact on future filmmakers cannot be overstated, and Linklater's passion for the movement for cinema is obvious. He surely hopes the film inspires others to explore the revolutionists from the Wave that shook the foundation of cinema ... even if "it's no CITIZEN KANE". Just keep in mind what Godard says, "All you need for a movie is a girl and a gun."

Releasing on Netflix on November 14, 2025.

As "Nouvelle Vague" (2025 release from France; 106 min.) opens, Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut and Claude Chabrol are watching a movie in a theater. Afterwards they meet up with friends somewhere. It turns out that Godard is the only one of the three still to direct his first movie, but he claims that he is ready to do so. At this point we are 10 minutes into the movie...

Couple of comments: this is the latest from director Richard Linklater ("Boyhood", "Everybody Wants Some!!"). Here he goes to France to recreate how Godard filmed his 1960 debut film "Breathless", and Linklater does so by using the New Wave style of filming that came in vogue 65 years ago. The idea is as simple as it is brilliant. The devil is of course in the details, and that is where the production team really shines. I couldn't stop marveling at how authentic Paris circa 1959-1960 looks. Check out the countless vintage cars! Oh, and did I mention that the film is in glorious B&W, and with a screen ratio of 4:3? Just like "Breathless" itself. The acting performances are stellar throughout, including Guillaume Marbeck as Godard and Aubry Dullin as Belmondo. But the highest praise belongs to Zoey Deutch, playing Jean Seberg, the American actress based in Paris. Deutch captures it perfectly. They act out a number of pivotal scenes of "Breathless" but always showing it as someone observing it, not in it. If it sounds like I'm gushing about "Nouvelle Vague", well it's because I am!

"Nouvelle Vague" premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival to immediate and wide critical acclaim. The Cannes screening caused a bidding war for the movie's distribution rights (ultimately won by Netflix). The movie is currently rated 90% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and it's easy to see why. "Nouvelle Vage" started streaming on Netflix this weekend, and I couldn't wait to see it. If you are a fan of Richard Linklater's or Zoey Deutch's earlier work, or simply a fan of French movies from the early 1960's, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion. You won't regret it!

I was bouncing back and forth between a 3.5/5 or a 4/5. I think I'd lean toward the latter if I had to pick, but on a 10-point scale, maybe a 7.5/10. Nouvelle Vague seems all very simple, and feels effortless, but then the craft here feels meticulous. It puts a lot of work into feeling loose and spontaneous, which is fitting when it's about such a loose and spontaneous movie. Nouvelle Vague tricks you into thinking Linklater and co. Are winging it, but this would've been tremendously difficult to make so authentically. All the recreated locations and the way it was shot... all perfect, like they went back in time to film this in 1960. The casting here is immense, and I particularly really forgot it was an actor playing Godard after a couple of scenes. The frame Aubry Dullin appears, I was shocked it wasn't actually Belmondo, because the appearance is uncanny. And then Belmondo is actually embodied beyond the physical resemblance, and I think the same mostly went for Zoey Deutch as Jean Seberg.

The casting and acting for the three leads were remarkable, and I was somewhat familiar with a few of the other side players (definitely not all, and I think you'd have to be super familiar with the French New Wave to know them all), but the casting was on point there, too. If 2026 is the first year they give out a Best Casting award at the Oscars, Nouvelle Vague is a shoo-in nomination.

Narratively and thematically, it isn't much more than a homage, or an excuse for Richard Linklater to show his appreciation for Godard, Breathless, and the French New Wave, but I enjoyed the craft here enough so that it was more than just charming. It shines on a technical front while also being pretty entertaining. I would've loved more time spent on the post-production of Breathless, and maybe a few scenes showing more of its release and the aftermath, but then again, Nouvelle Vague finishing a little abruptly (and with Godard still kind of being a jerk, albeit a jerk who'd proven he *probably* knew what he was doing) feels very New Wave, so maybe that potential weakness is actually a strength.

But Linklater's still got it. He is just pumping out constant good (and sometimes great) movies, like one every year or two. He's a bit underappreciated, really.

This monochromatic 2025 period piece is a cinephile's wet dream of a film from an obvious cineaste, but there's enough energy and craftsmanship here to attract the more casual viewer. A true renaissance man, director Richard Linklater just released "Blue Moon", his evocative WWII-era valentine to the creative titans of Broadway. With this film, he showcases his in-depth knowledge of the mid-century French New Wave movement, in particular, the making of Jean-Luc Godard's seminal debut, 1960's "Breathless" ("A Bout de Soufflé"). The film features relatively unknown actors portraying legendary cinema figures such as Roberto Rossellini, Francois Truffaut, and Jean-Pierre Melville. At the center of the screenplay by Holly Gent and Vince Palmo is Godard, a film critic determined to become a filmmaker. As effectively portrayed by Guillaume Marbeck, Godard is an arrogant disruptor who recruits two young actors, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg, to star as a boastful petty criminal and the American student who is smitten with him. Aubry Dillon is a dead ringer for the charismatic Belmondo, while Zoey Deutch in an accurate pixie cut captures Seberg's fierce reticence during the production. If you've not seen "Breathless", you might have trouble tracking the story being told, but that confusion was part of the appeal of the original movie. Linklater knows that and runs with it in this stylish homage.

I was in France as a student for a couple of months about the same time that "Breathless" was being made. Then didn't see that movie until some time after being back in the US. At the time I didn't think of the film as an example of "new wave" cinema, just as a wonderful reminder of places I'd seen. The characters didn't bear any resemblance to the French students and adults I'd met, however. I felt Seberg's character was pretty dumb, falling in with Belmondo's thief, no matter how charming and sexy he was.

This movie, "Nouvelle Vague", brought it all back. It evoqued the streets during that time so perfectly! And, Jean Seberg was only a year older than me! (Though I looked up Zoey Deutch and she was closer to 30ish when she made the film.)

I had never really thought about the original movie in terms of its new wave aspects. As scene after scene gets shot with no rehearsal and barely a script you think, "How will this thing ever get edited together into a comprehensible movie?" But of course In retrospect we know that Breathless did win awards.

Does "Nouvelle Vague" really need a definitive ending? We all know how things turn out for everybody in the long run. Like they say, the enjoyment is in the journey.