NOUVELLE VAGUE
(director: Richard Linklater; screenwriters: Holly Gent, Vince Palmo, Michèle Halberstadt, Laetitia Masson; cinematographer: David Chambille; editor: Catherine Schwartz; cast: Guillaume Marbeck (Jean-Luc Godard), Zoey Deutch (Jean Seberg), Aubry Dullin (Jean-Paul Beimondo), Adrien Rouyard (Francois Truffaut), Antoine Besson (Claude Chabrol), Come Thieulin (Eric Rohmer), Jodie Ruth Forest (Suzanne Schiffman), Bruno Dreyfürst (Georges de Beauregard), Benjamin Clery (Pierre Rissient), Matthieu Penchinat (Raoul Coutard); Runtime: 105; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Michèle Pétin, Laurent Pétin; ARP Selection; 2025-France/USA-in mostly French & English)
“If you’re looking for anything new about New Wave Films, you’ll be disappointed.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Richard Linklater (“Blue Moon”/”Hit Man”) in his own inimical way intelligently recreates the 20-day making of the landmark Jean-Luc Godard (Guillaume Marbeck) New Wave film of 1960, which was the legendary director’s outlandish low-budget debut feature and his biggest commercial hit ever. Linklater’s film is fast-moving, stylish, conventional, and a breathlessly paced pic. Godard’s film stars Jean Seberg (Zoey Deutch) and Jean-Paul Belmondo (Aubry Dullin), who play the visiting American and French bank robber/cop killer. They are star-crossed lovers on the run in Paris.
The period drama is shot in a guerrilla-style by its cinematographer Raoul Cotard (Matthieu Penchinat), something that Linklatter’s DP David Chambille admirably captures the spirit of on camera and shoots in monochrome. While the clever script by Holly Gent, Vince Palmo, Michèle Halberstadt, and Laetitia Masson, offers a curious behind-the-scene look on the film I loved seeing first on its American theater release and later on TCM.
Godard was the film-critic at Cahiers Du Cinéma, itching to be a director, who jumped at this chance to advance his career. He helped change the way films could be made in the future.
The true crime story was written with panache by Francois Truffaut (Adrien Rouyard), also a film critic and colleague of Godard, whose innovative script broke the previous rules for the narrative films. Truffault a year earlier directed the acclaimed hit “400 Blows.” Godard’s other critic colleagues at the paper, Chabrol (Antoine Besson) and Rohmer (Come Thieulin), already directed successful films.
If you’re looking for anything new about New Wave Films, you’ll be disappointed. This is a homage film that relishes telling insider cinema jokes about the making of “Breathless.”
It played at the Cannes Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 5/20/2025 GRADE: B
dennisschwartzreviews.com