Nouvelle Vague

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!

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.

Love this movie. So captures the style of the French New Wave. But a little tongue in cheek. It helps if you are already familiar with the style, especially that of Godard. If you haven't seen Breathless, watch it first and then watch this soon after. Absolutely delightful. Can't wait to watch it again!

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.

From the very first moments of Nouvelle Vague, I found myself grinning uncontrollably - even giggling out of sheer excitement. It's been years since a movie made me feel this alive, this inspired. Richard Linklater's film doesn't just pay homage to the French New Wave - it somehow becomes it.

The illusion is extraordinary. Every frame looks and feels as if it were shot in 1959, unearthed decades later from a film archive no one knew existed. The grain, the lighting, the movement of the camera - all of it feels so authentic that it plays tricks on your mind. You start to forget you're watching a modern film. I have no idea what combination of lenses, filters, or post-production alchemy was used to achieve this effect, but the result is breathtaking. It's as if Linklater and his team managed to fold time itself back into celluloid.

The sound design and editing are equally meticulous. The ambient hiss, the slightly imperfect cuts, even the rhythm of the dialogue - everything contributes to the illusion of watching something real from another era. And yet, despite all that stylistic precision, the film feels effortless, full of spontaneity and warmth.

The cast is simply perfect. Each actor inhabits their role with such natural grace that you believe these are real people caught in the birth of a cinematic revolution. They don't parody Godard or Truffaut; they channel the restless curiosity and romanticism that defined that generation of filmmakers.

What surprised me most is how emotional it all felt. Beneath the technical mastery, there's genuine affection - not just for the aesthetics of the French New Wave, but for the creative spirit behind it: that fearless desire to experiment, to risk failure in pursuit of something true.

I haven't seen Godard's Breathless in years, but now I can't wait to revisit it. Nouvelle Vague rekindled that same hunger - the need to rediscover where modern cinema came from, and why it still matters.

When the credits rolled, I just sat there, buzzing with energy. I wanted to pick up a camera and go shoot a movie, make something! That's the best compliment I can give a film: it doesn't end when the screen goes dark - it sends you back into the world wanting to create.

I'm already planning to see it again on the big screen. This might honestly be my favorite Richard Linklater film - a love letter to cinema so convincing, so joyful, that it feels like it's been waiting sixty years just to inspire us all over again.