‘Nouvelle Vague’ Review – A Relaxing And Charming Revolution

There are moments in time in every art form that are deeply important and known to lovers of that particular artistic endeavor. In fine art, one might point to either Da Vinci painting “The Mona Lisa” in 1503 or Jackson Pollock splattering paint in 1948. In music, Beethoven performed his 5th Symphony in 1808, and The Beatles performed on Ed Sullivan in 1964. All of these moments are important and known. Film is no different. It has its share of revolutionary moments. One such is the creation of Breathless, directed by Jean-Luc Godard.

It has been well-documented that director Richard Linklater is utterly obsessed with time and how it functions in our lives. So, on a few levels, the fact that he chose to create essentially a narrative documentary of the making of Breathless truly fits his oeuvre. Nouvelle Vague is the story of that very important film and, of course, the story of the creation of the French New Wave. Smartly, he casts mostly newcomers in every role, including that of Godard (Guillame Marbeck). The only pseudo-established actor in this company is Zoey Deutch. Deutch, fittingly, plays the movie star Jean Seberg, who, despite her status, is probably most known for this particular role.

But as the film opens, we are quickly introduced to many of the important figures of the New Wave, all at this point mostly working as critics at the Cahiers du Cinéma, a well-known (to cinephiles) French film magazine. This opening scene, while entertaining, highlights one of the small issues with the film itself. As much as “serious film fans” complain about certain genres introducing a myriad of characters that are merely easter eggs, Nouvelle Vague is just as guilty. However, it moves quickly enough that these moments pass, and frankly, remembering all of the names and roles never becomes desperately important to the plot.

But let’s be honest. This movie is trying to thread a particularly difficult needle. This is, as they say, one for the sickos. There is a great deal of doubt that this would ever have runaway success for non-cinephiles. The other side of that is that Breathless is held up to such a level that there is almost no chance to create this without some hand-wringing from the serious fans. However, one thing that seems indisputable is that Linklater and cinematographer David Chambille have created a look for the film that makes it truly appear as if it has been ripped straight from the early 1960s. There is a certain crispness to the black and white images that transports us not only to that time, but to that particular feeling as we experience the stunning change in form that will be remembered for decades. It is truly stunning to look at, and this is also due to the casting. Marbeck is perfectly cool, charming, and manages to never tip over into obnoxious caricature.

Despite the high stress level inherent to making a film, especially one made on the fly, the audience never feels it, and this is to the film’s great advantage. Even when stars Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo (Aubry Dullin) are exasperated, there is a good nature to everyone involved, and it allows us to simply enjoy the back-and-forth. Every time Jean cracks at Godard about his lack of a script or his relationship with producer Georges de Beauregard, we wait with baited breath for him to crack under the pressure. This seems especially likely given that Jean is constantly telling her husband about her deep regret of signing on to the film. And yet, that ball never drops. One can almost feel the reverence that Linklater has for everyone involved. The stereotypical French cool never leaves our heroes, cigarettes dangling out of their mouths, shades perfectly perched on their noses, just knowing everything will work out in the end. 

And of course, it does work out, but we knew that at the outset. Nouvelle Vague is never going to change the world, even though its English translation (New Wave) certainly did alter the world of cinema forever. The film manages to inform us of a little history (that we likely already know), but more importantly, it is a pleasant, almost relaxing few hours with some true heroes of film.

Nouvelle Vague is currently playing in select theaters courtesy of Netflix. The film will be available to stream exclusively on Netflix on November 14, 2025.