Nouvelle Vague is set in 1959 with almost all dialogue in French, starring Guillaume Marbeck as Godard, a confident director about to make his first feature film using unconventional methods, such as shooting on the streets with no audio recording (in order to dub in sound later). Aubrey Dullin is a good choice to play Jean-Paul Belmondo, the actor who was the lead in Breathless, as the resemblance is clear (however, apparently Belmondo's grandson auditioned but didn't get the part!). American actress Jean Seberg was Breathless's leading lady and Zoey Deutch delivers, including Seberg's appalling American-accented French.
As a former film student, I particularly appreciated its portrayals of great French filmmakers of the time, especially François Truffaut and Claude Chabrol, who together "wrote the screenplay" (see below) with Godard. New Wave is what the style of filmmaking epitomized by Godard was called. Godard, Truffaut, and Chabrol were film critics at the same magazine before they began to make their own.
Linklater works from a script apparently written in English by Holly Gent and Vincent Palmo Jr., with the French translation by Michèle Pétin and Laetitia Masson. Here's an essay Linklater wrote about the movie.
There is no soundtrack composer, instead relying on jazz classics (five by saxophonist Zoot Sims, one by Count Basie), and a few more from the original movie and/or the era. I've noticed that Netflix and Apple don't always play well together, which might explain why the soundtrack is on Spotify and not Apple Music.
Everyone in the cast and crew except for Linklater, Deutch, Gent, and Palmo is French. The movie is presented in a 1.37:1 (AKA 4:3) aspect ratio, the same as Breathless, using vintage camera equipment and film stock. It was fun to see the black dots flash in the upper right corners of the screen, which, when everything was projected on film, were the cues for the projectionists to change the reels.
The problem I had with Breathless was that I detested the character of the leading man Michel, a narcissistic hustler played by Belmondo (I don't remember Richard Gere's portrayal in the 1983 remake--I may have been predisposed to like him in anything in my younger years). Yep, Seberg's French accent is terrible, and her delivery is flat, due, no doubt, to her having to dub it in later. Director Godard has a tiny cameo at the end, the character called Snitch.
However, there are no onscreen credits for cast nor crew. I had to glean it all from online research, such as naming "screenwriters" Truffaut and Chabrol. I recommend the trivia available online, which will explain my quotes, as well as why the pace is so choppy.
Martial Solal's soundtrack is available on Spotify. Apple Music does seem to have the audio of the entire 90 minute movie--dialogue plus soundtrack--if you're inclined to listen to it. I was not.
One photographic effect was the cigarette smoke floating around Belmondo at all times. In fact, everyone smoked in both movies.
Linklater was last blogged for Hit Man, Deutch for Buffaloed, Gent and Palmo for Where'd You Go, Bernadette?, and Godard (1930-2022) for Goodbye to Language. Marbeck, Dullin, Pétin, and Masson are new to me, but it should be noted that Pétin had a long personal and professional relationship with Godard.
Belmondo (1933-2021) had 89 credits but the only one I've seen is Casino Royale (1967) and his part was small. Seberg (1938-1979) acted in 36 movies before committing suicide at 40. I was more familiar with Truffaut's (1932-1984) work, including The 400 Blows (1959), Shoot the Piano Player (1960), Jules and Jim (1962), Fahrenheit 451 (1966), Day for Night (1973), The Story of Adele H (1975), The Last Metro (1980), and The Woman Next Door (1981). I don't know much about Chabrol (1930-2010).
Rotten Tomatoes' critics are newly waving hello to Nouvelle Vague with their average of 90%, while its audiences also say hi at 84. As of today the movie has four festival wins and eight other nominations. I watched it on Netflix on November 27.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics are breathless at 95% and its audiences gasping at 90. I streamed it on HBO with our subscription on December 7. It can also be rented.
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