By John Corrado
Nouvelle Vague is American director Richard Linklater’s playful look at the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s groundbreaking 1959 film Breathless, done in the spirit of a French New Wave film.
A Texas filmmaker shooting in France, in the French language no less, might seem like a stretch. But the indie auteur attitudes of Linklater and Godard are a common connection. It’s a fun and enjoyable tribute, and the cast all fit their roles well, from Guillaume Marbeck as an impish Jean-Luc Godard to Zoey Dutch as a fiery Jean Seberg.
The film finds Godard lamenting that he is the only writer from Cahiers du Cinema who has not yet directed a film (his short film, he has decided, doesn’t count). Seeing as his contemporaries like François Truffaut (Adrien Rouyard) and Éric Rohmer (Côme Thieulin) have already had films premiere at Cannes, Godard decides that it is time to make his own feature debut.
The project is Breathless, which will be shot on the fly around Paris, with a fluid script, no sound recorded, and all the dialogue added in later. Godard casts his friend and local boxer Jean-Paul Belmondo (Aubry Dullin) in the leading role, alongside American actress Jean Seberg (Zoey Deutch).
Not to be reductive, but this is a sort of New Wave fan fiction, if you will. The raucous production finds him clashing against his producer Georges de Beauregard (Bruno Dreyfürst), who questions his erratic schedule and avant garde shooting style. Seberg, meanwhile, who gets the role through her husband François Moreuil (Paolo Luka Noé), is constantly taking the piss out of Godard.
Linklater isn’t going for something overly deep, as much as it is breezy and fun, presenting Godard as an enfant terrible of cinema who was mostly happy being a rebel and rule-breaker. Linklater’s “making of” can’t possibly be as radical or daring as Breathless itself, but it’s a delightful lark that impressively recreates what the production might have been like, including through David Chambille’s lovely black-and-white cinematography.
Film Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)
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