Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague is a hagiography, not of a specific individual, but of another film, Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless, which most cinephiles credit with revolutionizing French cinema when it was released in 1960. I’m still not sure exactly how Linklater, an American from Texas, got attached to the project as the director of Nouvelle Vague, since all of the dialogue is in French, and the cast is French as well, with the exception of Zooey Deutch, who plays Jean Seberg. Linklater’s 2004 film Before Midnight is set in Paris, so perhaps that helped give him the confidence to tackle a feature-length French-language film.

Whatever the backstory, Nouvelle Vague is an entertaining homage to the adventurous spirit which animated the era of the French New Wave, and to the iconoclastic filmmakers and actors who wrote, starred in, and directed the many groundbreaking films of that time.

Almost all of the familiar names from that period appear as themselves in Linklater’s film: Jean-Luc Godard of course, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg, François Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, Agnès Varda, Éric Rohmer, Jacques Rivette; even Juliette Gréco and Jean Cocteau make brief appearances. As each character makes their first appearance, they stand still and look directly at the camera, with their names overlaid on screen, as if this were a documentary film being made—a “making of”—before “making of”s were a standard part of movie-making, part of the extra materials for the inevitable DVD.

Linklater (or his casting director) appears to have made a special effort to find actors who bear a resemblance to the figures they portray, and in most cases the likenesses are striking. Guillaume Marbeck, who plays Jean-Luc Godard, seems to me to be particularly well-cast—although perhaps all that was needed to convince viewers of the accuracy of his portrayal was Godard’s trademark pair of sunglasses. Zooey Deutch as Jean Seberg is also persuasive in her role; but again: perhaps only that famous pixie haircut was required.

I described Nouvelle Vague as a hagiography, because at no point are we in any doubt as to the significance of the film we’re watching being made, Godard’s Breathless. We begin watching Nouvelle Vague knowing that the result will be a classic film, as well as marking the start of significant careers for Godard and Belmondo.

Which I suppose is why Nouvelle Vague is being marketed as a comedy-drama, with an emphasis on the comedy. The cast and crew as portrayed are rebels all, united in what looks like a lark. One, or two takes at most for each scene, and then they’re packing up and moving on.

Some shooting days (and the budget allowed for only three weeks of shooting on the streets of Paris) were cut short for the most casual of reasons—a toothache; fatigue—and the only one who seems at all perturbed is the producer, played by Bruno Dreyfürst. And since the outcome is a given, all dramatic tension has been banished, allowing the audience—film buffs all—to chuckle, nod knowingly, and join with Linklater in celebrating a classic film, and the world of film in general.

There is one more screening of Nouvelle Vague remaining as part of VIFF, on Saturday, October 11th at 11:00 am, at the Playhouse. You can read more about the film here, and watch the trailer here. After playing the festival circuit, Nouvelle Vague is destined for Netflix, where it will begin streaming on November 14.

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