Film review: Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague
Well known French film critic turned filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard is quoted to once have said, ‘the best way to criticise a film is to create one’ or perhaps to paraphrase, the best way to prove your worth as an artist is to simply make things.
This however, is easier said than done when it comes to the crushing reality of filmmaking where a plethora of parties and restrictions are involved – cast, crew, budget, time, all constraints appearing as if out of thin air to crush the dreams of once hopeful filmmakers. For many emerging filmmakers, the dream to break into industry and make a name for themselves can feel hindered or suppressed and this is understandably frustrating.
This frustration is possibly what led to cinema’s New Wave movement – filmmaking and cinema isn’t just pretty images, it’s art, it’s political, it’s a statement on culture capturing a perspective in time. Films exist to document culture and create stories to rebel against the passing of time. Memory, whether it be constructed or real, carries with it emotion and truth of which we and viewers often romanticise because it’s always easier to look back at experiences we’ve had with a vague fondness for the past.
Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague pays tribute to the French New Wave with a particular focus on the production of Godard’s 1960 film ‘Breathless’. The film pioneered the French New Wave which encouraged youthful creativity and reshaped how cinema was created or defined. Paired perfectly with limited budgets, time restrictions, youthful experimentation, cinema’s rebellion was shaped by cultural movements – New Wave, Dogme 95, Guerilla filmmaking, and technical experimentations thanks to the advancement of film technology, portability and access – a response to culture and restrictions filmmakers face even to this day.
Shot in black and white, Nouvelle Vague feels like docufiction, a nostalgic reenactment of a behind the scenes look at the production of Godard’s Breathless (1960), clearly logic and the reality that both Godard and Truffaut have passed away means this film is a constructed romanticisation of an era that once was. The film casts actors who resemble well known filmmakers who were a part of the French New Wave – Truffaut, Resnais, Varda, Demy, and Rivette, to name a few. Their introduction is showcased by breaking the fourth wall – each French film director looks directly at the camera as if acknowledging the audience. For those with an understanding of cinema’s movements and history this is a shoutout to cinephiles with a love for arthouse cinema. (Unfortunately, I am also included in this group and will write of the tension I feel between my love of art, films, and my anxiety or imposter syndrome of being a filmmaker/artist)
Linklater’s homage to Godard is peak cinema. French cinema has certain connotations, the use of black and white, shots of attractive French people smoking outside cafes, the use of a jazz soundtrack, and characters saying overly dramatic phrases like, ‘I live with melancholy’ everything feels overly dramatic and performative, a world separate from the usual mundane. Personally, as a filmmaker, I have a love/hate relationship with cinema and films like Nouvelle Vague can be perceived as stupidly pretentious and elitist, especially with the marketing of French films to a particular audience based on social perception.
The irony of the cinema’s new wave movements however, is the fact that filmmaking is a cultural rebellion fuelled by youthful creativity, anti-elitist, prioritising cheap solutions to technical problems. As shown in Linklater’s film Godard’s approach to cinema was spontaneous, there was no sound stage, use of natural lighting, a very run and gun approach to filmmaking which was once meticulously planned and overly rehearsed. These days the divide between arthouse cinema and amateur filmmaking seems to have subconsciously grown further with potential disregard for either camp because one is either too pretentious and the other too low brow in culture. Nouvelle Vague showcases this frustration, perhaps documented in a reflection of Godard’s decision to move from criticising films to making them, best described perhaps as ‘creative chaos’.
The dynamics of filmmaking has always been working with people, elements outside of one’s control as filmmaking involves many moving parts, a key part being working with people who can be unpredictable. Linklater showcases Godard’s tension with the lead actress of Breathless, Jean Seberg, who grew increasingly frustrated at his lack of planning or direction whilst making the film. Perhaps Linklater, best known for the Before trilogy (1995 – 2013) and Boyhood (2014), explores themes of nostalgia and the romanticisation of time or memory in this film rather than factual plots, highlighting the tension and subtlety of human interaction and micro expressions. Nouvelle Vague has a somewhat loose plotline that is vague enough to feel believable, it allows memory to fill in gaps with familiarity which acts as a comfort for audiences.
I was intrigued by the portrayal of Godard as careless, last-minute, and unplanned, given his criticism background I would have assumed he might have been meticulous in his approach to filmmaking. I am aware of filmmakers these days, myself included, whose perfectionist qualities inhibit them from creating, they might feel paralysed by potential mistakes and worry about social perception of how their art may be received. I love that the New Wave film movement feels like a giant ‘fuck you’ to this self imposed and socially restricting paralysis filmmakers all feel because filmmaking should be liberating. Over time I’ve found that keeping up perfection is tiring and filmmaking is messy so accepting this truth is important in order to grow. Linklater shows Godard’s approach on set in the film including countless rewrites, the lack of synced sound, and unfollowed schedules, showcasing both the need for filmmakers to be spontaneous and embrace change, and so an empathetic understanding to producers, cast, crew and studio execs who may need to adhere to restrictions on time and budget. There is a tension having experienced both sides, filmmakers are always compromising be it time, creativity, or cost – something has to give.
Perhaps the question itself presented in Nouvelle Vague is really one of why, why do filmmakers make films, is it to impress other filmmakers, film critics, or prove to yourself that you can create something which is liberating in itself? Nouvelle Vague is a film that inspires, plot-wise it isn’t anything amazing but it reminded me of the French New Wave film movement which celebrates filmmaking and the idea of play/spontaneity. This is liberating when I worry about what others think of my art, I can just remind myself of this, ‘disappointment is temporary, film is forever.’
Nouvelle Vague hits Aus cinemas on Jan 8th 2026.
Review by Addy Fong.
