Netflix delivers a black-and-white biopic of famed French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard and the making of his first feature film, Breathless. The movie delivers a compelling look at the filmmaking process. But harsh (if limited) language, suggestive moments, some spiritual fumbling and constant smoking could make this a tricky film to navigate.
In art, one is either a plagiarist or a revolutionary.
Jean-Luc Godard knows which one he’d like to be considered. After working as a movie critic and completing a handful of short films, the Parisian native feels that he’s ready for his directorial debut—his big break.
“Break” is a good word for it, because Godard doesn’t intend for his first feature film to be a conservative affair. He’d rather use his movie as a hammer to smash the established rules of French cinema.
Georges de Beauregard, Godard’s producer, wishes his friend wasn’t so militant about this whole “film as art” thing. Would it be so bad to make a simple little noir film that entertains and, more crucially, makes its money back?
Godard’s not interested: “Following rules won’t get me where I want to go.”
So, the first-time director sets out to make his film his way, to the exasperation of many in his cast and crew. Godard cares little for film continuity, gives his actors little time to rehearse their dialogue and wraps filming the minute his ideas run dry—sometimes only working a few hours a day.
It’s enough for Beauregard to pull out what little hair he has left on his head.
Lead actress Jean Seberg isn’t so sure about Godard, either. She had hoped to work with more proven New Wave directors, such as Truffaut or Chabrol. Instead, she was convinced to sign on with this frustratingly enigmatic and dark-spectacled director. To her, the film is starting to feel like a career killer. And she’s not the only one.
But if Godard can finish his story on time (no sure thing) and Beauregard doesn’t cut his losses with production (another precarious possibility), those making this little noir film might be surprised with how it turns out.
Godard’s film might just leave them, and generations to come, breathless.
Nouvelle Vague shows us the camaraderie that is built between cast and crew during a film production—even, and maybe especially, a challenging one. Actors encourage one another. When one expresses frustration in the filmmaking process, another offers encouragement, saying, “If we row together, maybe we’ll get somewhere.”
Godard fulfills his promises. Despite some tension during filming, Godard expresses his gratitude for Beauregard’s support and friendship. Friends encourage one another in their artistic pursuits.
Cinema is given a near-religious reverence at times, being likened to immortality and even a “deliverer” of sorts.
At one point, Godard is asked how he would film an adaptation of the life of Jesus Christ, and he responds that he would film those scenes “left out” of the Bible. He calls quotes from his favorite artists “holy scriptures.”
A famed director says that “art is not a pastime but a priesthood.” Another director compares the burden of directing a film to being stuck in a “personal hell.” Beauregard facetiously says that he prays around the clock for Godard’s film. We hear that Seberg played Joan of Arc in the film Saint Joan. Godard tells her that her character in his film will be both “saint and sinner.”
Churches are seen, including the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Paris. Someone jokes about “film gods.” Someone jokingly says, “Amen.”
Some of the scenes Godard and his crew film are sensual in nature. Crucially, we don’t see the filming of any of these allegedly explicit scenes: Nouvelle Vague prefers to show us the preparation and discussion surrounding them instead. Still, dialogue tied to those moments can be suggestive, such as when an actor jokes about clearing the room so he can “rehearse” a love scene with an actress, or when one of the film’s backers (described as “a lech”) shows up to watch a scene supposedly involving nudity.
An actor and actress are filmed in their undergarments having a conversation in bed, and the man asks the woman about someone she’s “slept with.” The performers also seem to share a romantic spark off camera, though the woman is married. (There’s no confirmation of an affair between the two.)
Jean-Paul Belmondo recounts that he thought Godard may have been coming onto him when they first met, though this was not the case.
A man and woman kiss. Women wear revealing clothing, and a few are seen in their underwear. Several people are seen in swimwear. Male gymgoers exercise shirtless.
One of the confrontations between Godard and Beauregard boils over into a brief tussle.
A stuntman tumbles over a car and plays dead for the camera. Another performer acts out an extended death scene (while comically reassuring concerned onlookers that he is performing in a film). Someone likens the creation of art to castration.
The f-word is used five times, as is the s-word. One person says, “Thank God.” We hear one use each of “h—” and “jeez.”
Cigarette smoke practically curls around the edges of Nouvelle Vague’s every frame. Hardly a scene goes by without at least one person dragging on a cigarette. Accurate to the time and culture? I wouldn’t doubt it. But the film still provides a romantic image of cigarettes as the constant companion of the world’s classy and cutting-edge.
Characters drink alcohol throughout the film. A man pretends to be drunk. Godard jokes that he only goes to the dentist “for the laughing gas.”
To promote Godard’s film, a publicist invents a salacious story about the director having held up a garage at gunpoint. Godard says he would steal from his grandmother when he was young, and we see him swiping some petty cash from his workplace so he can afford to go to the Cannes Film Festival.
A man is identified as an army deserter. Jean calls her former director “sadistic.” A professional pickpocket steals a few items as a show of his skill. (He immediately returns said items.)
“Art is never finished, only abandoned.”
Jean-Luc Godard quotes the famous phrase attributed to Leonardo da Vinci as the very last scene of his rebellious little film is shot.
That film would turn out be Breathless, one of the most influential movies to come from French New Wave cinema. Godard’s revolutionary directorial style would have a tremendous impact on up-and-coming filmmakers around the world, including Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorcese, George Lucas and—as one would imagine as the director of Nouvelle Vague, a Jean-Luc Godard biopic—Richard Linklater.
And Linklater delivers a strong, if niche, film for Netflix here. The director does an impressive job of transporting the viewer to a late 1950s Paris, shot entirely in black and white. The performances are crisp. And the story, about the making of Breathless and its connection to the many luminaries of French cinema, is a compelling tale for those interested in the history of moviemaking.
I imagine this film will do well during awards season (Hollywood loves movies about movies, after all), so Nouvelle Vague (French for “New Wave”) may gain more cultural steam as nominations are divvied out.
For a broader audience, mileage will vary depending on the patience for a film that’s almost entirely in French and covers a niche topic.
Content-wise, language is the most obvious issue here. Profanity isn’t frequent, but when it shows up, it’s harsh. We only hear one f-word in English, but seeing the word in a subtitle isn’t much better. Characters smoke constantly, and the movie—intentionally or not—makes it look appealing. And there are some spiritual and suggestive faults as well.
Families with hardcore cinephiles may be tempted to check out Netflix’s Nouvelle Vague, but they should be wary that the film’s content waves might be too tricky for even the most ardent moviegoers to navigate.
Bret loves a good story—be it a movie, show, or video game—and enjoys geeking out about things like plot and story structure. He has a blast reading and writing fiction and has penned several short stories and screenplays. He and his wife love to kayak the many beautiful Colorado lakes with their dog.
