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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL | Last update 19.Oct.25

Nouvelle Vague
Review by Rich Cline | 4/5

dir Richard Linklater
scr Holly Gent, Vincent Palmo Jr
prd Laurent Petin, Michele Petin
with Guillaume Marbeck, Zoey Deutch, Aubry Dullin, Adrien Rouyard, Antoine Besson, Jodie Ruth Forest, Bruno Dreyfurst, Benjamin Clery, Matthieu Penchinat, Pauline Belle, Frank Cicurel, Blaise Pettebone
release Fr 8.Oct.25,
US 31.Oct.25, UK 30.Jan.26
25/France 1h46

CANNES FILM FEST
TORONTO FILM FEST

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Cleverly dramatising the making of Jean-Luc Godard's 1960 classic Breathless in full-on period style, Richard Linklater playfully dives into the French New Wave movement, which changed the cinematic language. This is the story of a group of critics at Cahiers du Cinema magazine who set out to break the rules and discover a more lyrical kind of filmmaking. It's hilarious, involving and thoroughly entertaining, especially for movie fans.

In late-1950s Paris, film journalist Jean-Luc (Marbeck) feels overdue for his directing debut, because colleagues Francois Truffaut (Rouyard) and Claude Chabrol (Besson) have already burst onto the scene. It's Francois who convinces producer Georges de Beauregard (Dreyfurst) to make Jean-Luc's first film. And now Jean-Luc hires assistant director Pierre (Clery), cameraman Raoul (Penchinat) and script supervisor Suzon (Belle), plus Jean-Paul Belmondo (Dullin) and American actress Jean Seberg (Deutch) in the leading roles. Then when they begin filming on the streets of Paris, everyone doubts Jean-Luc's loose approach, as he makes up everything as he goes.

Of course, Godard has the bigger picture in his head, but he never communicates it, preferring spontaneity. This film is made up of hilarious anecdotes shot in vintage style, with luxuriantly grainy black and white imagery, often in the original locations with actors who look and behave uncannily like their real-life counterparts. Linklater's attention to craft is impeccable, adding knowing nods at film history while skilfully recreating the time and place. But it's the complex characters who win us over.

Always wearing sunglasses, Marbeck gives Godard the swagger of a young man doing his dream job even as he hasn't a clue what he'll do next. He's amusingly dismissive, but also trusts his cast and crew to do their best work. Deutch is luminous as the sparky Seberg, who worries that this will be a disaster. She and the likeably goofy Dillin beautifully capture Seberg and Belmondo's sparkling chemistry. And the steady parade of people around them, including named movie icons, is simply wonderful.

Through all of this, there's a sense that Godard never expected his movie to be very good; he was only trying to prove that there are other ways to express yourself on film. This creates a superbly layered camaraderie among the cast and crew, unsure but happy to go along for the ride and give it their all. This turns a witty pastiche making-of movie, and Breathless itself, into a celebration of artistic voices that refuse to march to the usual beats.

themes, language 18.Oct.25

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