Jean-Luc Godard – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

NOUVELLE VAGUE – Review by Sara Clements

October 29, 2025January 13, 2026 Sara Clements Aubry Dullin, French New Wave, Guillaume Marbeck, Jean Seberg, Jean-Luc Godard, Nouvelle Vague, Richard Linklater, Zoey Deutch

“Following the rules won’t get me where I want to go,” declares Jean-Luc Godard in Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague – a line that doesn’t just define the man, but the movement he helped ignite. With this spirited black-and-white homage, Linklater dives headfirst into the messy, miraculous making of Breathless (1960), the film that detonated the French New Wave and rewrote the language of cinema. What unfolds is not just a biopic or a behind-the-scenes reenactment; it’s a cinephile’s dream. It’s a film about filmmaking that revels in spontaneity, celebrates rebellion, and honours the radical power of creative freedom.

Festivals Reviews

NOUVELLE VAGUE (Cannes FF 2025) – Review by Diane Carson

June 11, 2025June 11, 2025 Diane Carson Breathless, Cannes FF 2025, French New Wave, Jean Seberg, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Nouvelle Vague, Raoul Coutard, Richard Linklater

In a fortuitous union of sensibilities, director Richard Linklater adopts and honors the French New Wave’s style in Nouvelle Vague. Known for his imaginative approach to film, his creative inclinations align perfectly with the innovative, untraditional approach of 1950s and 1960s French cinema. Among the iconic works of those rule-breakers, Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 “Breathless” (“A bout de souffle”) remains a celebrated triumph. Credit, then, to Linklater’s courage in deciding to recreate Godard’s day-by-day production of that film and to do it in black-and-white while also identifying Godard’s many famous Cahiers du Cinéma friends and colleagues, their names superimposed over those playing them on screen. In addition, the casting of lookalike actors brings the imagined production to life: those for Godard, director of photography Raoul Coutard, and stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg.

Reviews

CONTEMPT (LE MEPRIS) – Review by Diane Carson

May 7, 2024May 7, 2024 Diane Carson 4K restoration, Brigitte Bardot, Contempt, french films, French New Wave, Jack Palance, Jean-Luc Godard, Le Mépris, Michel Piccoli, Rialto Pictures

Iconic French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard needs no introduction, but reminders of his cinematic genius are delightful and welcome. Such is the case with the 4K restoration of his 1963 Contempt/Le Mépris, charting the unraveling of an already fragile marriage as screenwriter Paul and wife Camille circle each other guardedly, engaging and retreating. Now accessible in it’s new 4K restoration, this is a good to become reacquainted with Godard in this legendary film that he described as “about a woman, a man, Italy, and cinema.”

Books

Godard and Sound: Acoustic Innovation in the Late Films of Jean-Luc Godard — Book Review by Kathleen Sachs (Guest Post, Exclusive)

August 13, 2018December 21, 2021 Kat Sachs 0 Comments albertine fox, godard and sound, Jean-Luc Godard, kathleen sachs

Albertine Fox does a fantastic job summarizing the book’s theoretical mission in the first chapter. The book is not only a good resource for the topic at hand; it also provides ‘mini-lessons’ on subjects with which readers may be unfamiliar. This reflects the author’s thoughtfulness—she doesn’t assume that everyone reading is familiar with every reference, and she elaborates in such a way that even those who are familiar will glean something new from how she connects the ideas to her own.

Books Commentaries