But peopled with not only Godard but also Truffaut, Chabrol, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg and Jean-Pierre Melville where else could Nouvelle Vague have its premiere but Cannes?

The film was shot in black and white by cinematographer David Chambille in the style of the 1950s and early 1960s French New Wave and in French language with a screenplay by vince Palmo, Michèle Halverstadt, Laetitia Masson and Holly Gent. This was obviously a labour of love and a lot of fun for Linklater.

The beginning of the film recreates the world of 1959 France and the group of filmmakers that became the French New Wave and changed the face of cinema forever. The French New Wave directors are film critics at the famous Cahiers du cinema. François Truffaut played by Adrien Rouyard has just shot The 400 Blows. Claude Chabrol played by Antoine Besson, Jacques Rivette played by Jonas Marmy and Eric Rohmer played by Côme Thieulin have all just shot their first films and Godard played by Guillaume Marbeck, who is just about to turn 30, is chomping at the bit to make his cinema debut.

Linklater’s film tells the story of the making of Godard’s Breathless, which changed the art of cinema and he has shot it on the same streets of Paris where Godard shot his inspirational and improvisational masterpiece using many of the same cafes and hotels where the original was shot. 

Godard was definitely infuriating but he also was a genius. He decides to make a film based loosely, very loosely on a story treatment by François Truffaut about a gangster and his American girlfriend and he manages to convince a producer Georges de Beauregard played by Bruno Freyfürst to back the low budget project which he promises to shoot in 20 days even though he doesn’t have a script and in fact never wrote a script for Breathless. He recruits Jean-Paul Belmondo played by Aubry Dullin and the American actress Jean Seberg played by Zoey Deutch as his leads in the film.

Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague is obviously intended as a treat for cinephiles and hopefully will send people new to the French New Wave back to have a look at the originals.

Nouvelle Vague / New Wave ( France )
Directed by Richard Linklater
Cast: Guillaume Marbeck, Zoey Deutch, Aubry Dullin, Bruno Dreyfürst, Benjamin Clery, Matthieu Penchinat, Pauline Belle