Nouvelle Vague

A young Jean-Luc Godard, fresh from writing for Cahiers du cinéma, decides that making a movie is the most direct way to prove his ideas about film. He persuades producer Georges de Beauregard to back a shoestring production and, together with fellow critic-turned-filmmaker François Truffaut, drafts a lean treatment about a reckless gangster and his American girlfriend. The shoot is raw, impulsive, and full of creative disagreements, and the cast and crew wrestle with budget limits, improvisation, and new camera techniques. The film traces those chaotic months of invention that lead to what becomes Breathless, portraying the energy and risk of a small crew trying to change cinema.

Released in 2025, Nouvelle Vague was directed by Richard Linklater and created by Vincent Palmo Jr., Holly Gent, and Laetitia Masson, with Guillaume Marbeck as Godard and Zoey Deutch as Jean Seberg, among others. It fictionalizes real events while aiming for period authenticity.

The movie leans into the look and feel of 1960s French cinema, recreating jump cuts, on-location shooting, and improvised dialogue. That homage, plus its focus on the moment the New Wave took shape, has prompted renewed interest in Godard and his contemporaries among younger viewers and cinephiles who appreciate film history being staged rather than simply summarized.

Critics and audiences have reacted warmly overall, reflected in a 7.3/10 vote average from 79 votes, with many praising the performances and the film's affectionate yet critical take on artistic ambition. Themes include the tension between criticism and creation, collaboration under pressure, and how youthful rebellion reshapes cultural forms. Linklater's conversational pacing and attention to actors' interactions give the story a lived-in quality.

Its awards run was modest, with the film attracting festival and specialty attention rather than sweeping major prize lists. The response has been stronger in critical conversations and retrospectives, where Nouvelle Vague is discussed more as a thoughtful reimagining of a pivotal moment than as an awards magnet.