‘Nouvelle Vague’ Review: Zoey Deutch and Aubrey Plaza in Richard Linklater’s Stylish Godard Study

Richard Linklater’s dedication to the French New Wave has a conflict at its centre. On one hand, Nouvelle Vague presents a lot of interesting ideas about what art and cinema should be; on the other, it gets caught up in a tedious loop as it depicts Jean-Luc Godard filming Breathless (1960). However, the film’s style, compelling visuals, and magnetic lead performances end up complementing the film’s relaxed pace. Nouvelle Vague might not be revered for decades to come, à la Breathless, but it’s another solid entry in Linklater’s vast filmography.

For all his revered films and ambitious cinematic gambles, Linklater has never come off as an ideologue, someone with a single-minded view on how films should be made. He’s a versatile filmmaker, able to mould his style into whichever story he needs to tell, shifting it slightly for each project (though thematic preoccupations pop up repeatedly). The visuals he works with can change drastically from film to film, just take Nouvelle Vague, Hit Man, and Apollo 10½ – his last three films, which all take completely different visual palettes. That’s why it’s so fascinating for Linklater to make a movie that debates filmmaking ideology.

Godard, portrayed by Guillaume Marbeck, is bathed in a pool of cinematic influences emanating from his peers and old masters. Yet to make his debut feature, Godard is feeling like he’s missing out on the French New Wave, left behind as his friends go on to define an era of cinema. We see Roberto Rossellini lecture on his filmmaking philosophy, Jean-Pierre Melville walks and talks with Godard through the former’s film set, pontificating on what’s expected of a director and the way one should act. Jean Cocteau appears to whisper his most famous quote, “Art is not a pastime, but a priesthood.”

Linklater takes the time to show Godard going through this process of studying and learning from the greats, ingesting both the skills needed to make a film that found its way into filmmaking canon, but also ideas that placed the director’s whims above all else. Godard’s sense of self-importance is inflated by these conversations, which manifests in his actions on set.

As soon as Breathless starts shooting, Nouvelle Vague enters a loop. Godard will haphazardly film a minute-long scene, wrap shooting for the day, and the cast and crew will react to how unconventional and unruly he is. For those interested in film history, these scenes are fascinating, at least to begin with. Godard was a pioneer of this kind of guerrilla filmmaking, no sets, no script, no shot continuity, just fragments of images in a man’s mind that he’s somehow able to communicate to a crew who increasingly despise him.

It’s in these scenes where Linklater is most reverent of Godard, and why wouldn’t you be? The greatest filmmakers are celebrated for their ability to do just this, puppet those around them to execute an extremely specific vision only they can see – that’s movie magic. It also feels like Linklater is buying into the image of the director at the peak of the on-set hierarchy. If the director wraps filming after one shot, you go home; if the director needs a day off for no real reason, the studio’s gonna have to eat it.

However, as this loop is repeated, the audience begins to question whether or not the great piece of art is worth being this much of an arsehole. Things begin to turn when Godard gets into a physical altercation with the film’s producer after he takes a day off to play some pinball. The complaints from the cast start to feel less like jabs at Godard’s quirky nature and a plea for this nightmarish film shoot to end.

The climax of both Breathless and Nouvelle Vague solve this thread. When shooting Breathless’ famous ending, Linklater isn’t focused on Godard’s direction but on Jean Seberg’s contribution as an actress, dispelling the myth that the greatness of a film lies completely in the director’s control. Linklater finds a balance between acknowledging the magic of a director executing his vision, but lands on the idea that true greatness cannot be achieved alone, that in cinema, collaboration creates the kind of celluloid immortality Godard had been chasing this whole time.

As strong as the ideas of Nouvelle Vague are, watching the process of Breathless being shot loses its novelty very quickly. Scenes that feel like they repeat the same day over and over have their purpose, but make for a film that is boring for a few stretches. Thankfully, the 16mm-style black-and-white visuals are endlessly interesting, Zoey Deutch and Aubrey Plaza have great chemistry as Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Marbeck plays Godard with a compelling cool and aloofness.

Watch Nouvelle Vague If You Like

• Mank
• Frances Ha
• Me and Orson Welles
• The Dreamers
• Living in Oblivion
• Godard’s Breathless

Conclusion

Nouvelle Vague is a fascinating experiment for Linklater, offering genuine insight into his philosophy as a director and revealing much about his perspective on film history. Fans of his will mine a lot of meaning from this, as will fans of cinema history who want to feel closer to a wave of filmmaking they didn’t get to experience as it was happening. This might be a rough watch for the average viewer, but what’s art without a bit of pain?