New Wave

‘The ideas were unconventional and the circumstances during filming were at times quite adventurous! In 1960, cinema revolutionary Jean-Luc Godard turned conventions on their head with his debut À bout de souffle – and made film history. In Nouvelle Vague, Linklater traces the story of its origins, delving back into the late 1950s to the beginnings of the film movement of the same name. He makes his black-and-white feature film look like a work from that era and also weaves in countless references and the names of famous directors.” (Sascha Rettig, Viennale, Oct 2025)

‘106 minutes of pure cinephile bliss. That’s how one might sum up this film. Richard Linklater weaves together reality, film history, enthusiasm, legend and counter-legend to create a fountain of new beginnings, nonchalance and that no-longer-quite-youthful restlessness caught between carefreeness and ambition, arrogance and friendship. It is not only Jean-Luc Godard, played by Guillaume Marbeck in this film, who wears the arrogance of the armchair revolutionary like a black-and-white tricolour; but the rest of the young cast – chosen primarily for their almost uncanny resemblance to the originals – also sparkles with charm and cheek.” (Michael Sennhauser, Filmblog, March 2026)