Richard Linklater’s French-language film Nouvelle Vague almost collapses under the weight of cinematic history. A fictionalized retelling of the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 Breathless (French title: À bout de souffle), the film lacks suspense because we know how the story ends.
The original low-budget Breathless was a critical and commercial success that helped bring the French New Wave (or Nouvelle Vague) to international audiences and established the French director as a visionary. Nevertheless, Linklater’s homage to Godard’s cinematic monument largely succeeds because it captures the youthful exuberance and naturalistic pretensions of its inspiration.
Shot on 35 mm black-and-white film by cinematographer David Chambille, 2025’s Nouvelle Vague retains the 4:3 aspect ratio and the gritty feel of Godard’s original. It faithfully reproduces Paris of 1959 and paints a remarkable picture of the city’s chain-smoking, café-hopping youth of yesteryear, a remarkable feat given its paltry budget of $9.9 million USD.
The story opens with the 28-year-old Godard (played by newcomer Guillaume Marbeck) lamenting that his cohorts at Cahiers du cinéma (the legendary French film magazine founded in 1951) have already made movies. He convinces producer Georges de Beauregard (Bruno Dreyfürst) to let him direct a feature based on a treatment co-written by fellow film critic and filmmaker François Truffaut (Adrien Rouyard).
Next, he enlists former military stills photographer and photojournalist Raoul Coutard (Matthieu Penchinat) as cameraman and cinematographer. Finally, he casts the more-than-willing actor and former boxer Jean-Paul Belmondo (Aubry Dullin) and reluctant American movie star Jean Seberg (Zoey Deutch) as his leads.
The film then moves to the shambolic 20-day shoot. Godard improvises and drafts dialogue on the spot, films guerrilla-style in the streets of Paris. He bends and breaks the rules of cinematography alongside Coutard, while antagonizing his producer and the female lead. Often wrapping after a couple of takes or not shooting at all, his apparently laissez-faire approach imperils the production at every turn. But Godard insists he knows what he’s doing.
The real magic in Nouvelle Vague is the casting. Linklater found actors who bear an uncanny resemblance to the historical figures they portray. Even the minor characters, making up a who’s who of the French New Wave, look the part. Ironically, Belmondo’s grandson Victor auditioned for lead, but Linklater turned him down for an actor who better embodied the late screen icon.
Marbek shines as the arrogant, audacious, aphorism-spouting Godard, who hides behind sunglasses and argues with everyone. Coutard is stoic, projecting the calm confidence of the sole person on set in possession of his faculties. Dreyfürst’s placid character de Beauregard barely reacts when the director physically attacks him. Deutch’s Seberg perfectly mimics her character’s ebullient on-screen performance in the real Breathless. Her off-screen persona is playful, spirited, and sometimes confrontational as she warms to her co-star and Godard’s unorthodox methods. Dullin is perfect as the self-possessed Belmondo, playing the emerging star as a suave young man who knows he is destined for greatness.
Fans of Godard’s masterpiece will marvel at Linklater’s faithful reproduction of the period and the film. However, Nouvelle Vague is more than an inside joke for cinephiles, even though some viewers might bristle at the linear depiction of the 20-day shoot.
Sure, Godard and his Cahiers du cinéma comrades come across as pretentious and aloof, and the cast and crew of Breathless are making it up as they go along. But these kids, who were winging it in the streets of Paris in 1959, are the progenitors of today’s young rulebreakers, digital creators, influencers, and filmmakers who are shaking things up with smartphones, social media, and democratizing digital tools.
Breathless is timeless because it captures the inventiveness and playfulness of youth, and Nouvelle Vague reminds us why that’s important. As one young filmgoer remarked upon exiting the TIFF premier, “I’ve never seen Breathless, but now I want to.”
Nouvelle Vague is now playing at TIFF and the Cineplex Varsity, and it starts showing at The Fox on Nov. 14.
This article appeared in the 2025 Oct/Nov issue.