NOUVELLE VAGUE is a film made by a film lover for film lovers about a film lover who made an iconic film that all film lovers love. So if you love film you will love this film.
Okay, so let’s be a little more descriptive here. Richard Linklater - whose superb BLUE MOON is also playing in this year's fest - has made a film about the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s iconic French New Wave film BREATHLESS, starring Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo. Filmed in black-and-white and in French, the film uses the rich historic record to recreate the chaotic, crazy but somehow genius creation of the cinema classic. The first forty minutes takes us through pre-production. All of Godard’s fellow critics at Cahiers du Cinema have made the leap to directing their own films, to great acclaim. Godard is confident in his mission to make free, spontaneous cinema, but now’s the time to screw his courage to the sticking place and get on with it.
The problems begin on the first day of filming when the cast and crew realise there is no script and that Godard does not care about such foundational concepts as continuity. Jean Seberg, used to slick Hollywood productions, finds the whole thing ridiculous. Jean-Paul Belmondo, excited to be in his first film, is happier to go with the flow. The producer, “Beau Beau” is pulling his hair out. And the two female editors complain that Godard won’t lose a single scene, but wants to micro-edit every scene in a manner that will seem choppy.
But somehow, somehow, as the inner team and Godard’s closest Cahier friends watch the Final Cut, they know it’s something special, even as they take the piss out of it. And we cut to the closing credits, and the news that the film became iconic, and that this period of French cinema was ludicrously fecund - with over 130 directors making their first features in a three-year period.
There is nothing not to love about this scrupulous recreation of a moment of cinema history. Linklater’s film oozes love for the source material. He uses the real locations and even the technical equipment that Godard actually used! There’s also a lot of care taken to find good actors who look like the people they are playing - not just in the main roles but a massive cast of all the Cahier and Left Bank gang. Each gets a straight to camera shot, almost like a photograph, with a subtitle showing their name. And this is a film that assumes you will know why they are important to cinema. NOUVELLE VAGUE is kinetic, funny, voyeuristic and makes you fall in love with the act of film-making. I love that Linklater will bring a whole new generation to the New Wave, especially as Netflix has bought the rights.
NOUVELLE VAGUE has a running time of 106 minutes. It played Cannes, Telluride, Busan, Toronto and London. It goes on limited release in the USA on October 31st and on the internet on November 14th.
