Published Feb 7, 2026, 8:30 PM EST
They are a freelance list author for ScreenRant. They are passionate about introducing readers to lesser-known media, especially with a focus on representation. They're always scavenging for offbeat content that tells stories mainstream media won't, or that have been forgotten over time.
2025 was the year of underrated biopics, with even Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere being a box office failure despite it being Jeremy Allen White's highly anticipated return to the big screen after the critically acclaimed The Iron Claw. Even the box office for Dwayne Johnson's Oscar-snubbed Mark Kerr biopic, The Smashing Machine, was underwhelming despite the buzz it generated.
Between Soul on Fire, Swiped, Christy, Song Sung Blue, and Magellan, there were many other notable biopics released in 2025 that performed worse than they were expected to. However, the Oscar nomination for Kate Hudson for Song Sung Blue brought it into the spotlight after a disappointing theatrical release led the studio to focus more intently on her Oscar campaign.
Similarly, despite initially being underrated, Richard Linklater's Blue Moon saw itself being rewarded through an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for Ethan Hawke. The actor arguably gave his career-best performance, and Linklater's screenplay is a tour de force. However, the director had a busier 2025 than many realize, and he made another biopic, which is particularly special for film buffs.
Nouvelle Vague Is Based On The Production Of Breathless
Named after the movement it came to represent, Nouvelle Vague is Richard Linklater's Jean-Luc Godard biopic that follows a small part of his life, specifically the three weeks he spent filming Breathless. Guillaume Marbeck stars as the famous director, while Zoey Deutch plays the part of Jean Seberg, Breathless' lead actress, and Aubry Dullin plays the lead actor, Jean-Paul Belmondo.
Godard's revolutionary ideas and the pushback he received for them, most notably from Seberg, who had already become a star in Hollywood, are on full display in Nouvelle Vague, which celebrates his vision. There is a silent reverence for him, even when others are made more sympathetic and his idiosyncrasies are shown to be inconveniencing others involved in the shoot.
The production of Breathless was controversial due to the unique means by which Godard shot the film, challenging most of the norms of traditional narrative filmmaking. Movies about the film industry often focus on the struggles behind the scenes or on the negative aspects of celebrities, but Linklater's Nouvelle Vague is a lighthearted recreation of the tumultuous production of Breathless.
Breathless Permanently Transformed Filmmaking
Now, Breathless' shoot is well-documented, and there's likely no lack of information or pictures available that depict and recreate for us just how novel Godard's approach to filmmaking was and just how many naysayers he had to prove wrong. The French New Wave focused on making filmmaking more accessible to people and on making films that closely resembled real life.
From shooting scenes with no dialogue prepared at the moment and disrupting continuity to maintain the natural flow of creativity, to editing out every frame in a sequence that looked unappealing, essentially inventing jumpcuts, Godard's Breathless changed filmmaking. So, despite recreating a well-documented shoot, Nouvelle Vague's cinematization of Breathless' shoot adds whimsical life to the record that reflects Godard's ideals.
The Movie Looks Like A French New Wave Film
The production team behind Nouvelle Vague has recreated 1959 with striking accuracy, setting the stage on which Godard's spontaneity is perfectly captured. With jumpcuts, an inviting greyscale color palette, a general light-heartedness in most scenes, and a playful background score, Nouvelle Vague looks like the movie it professes to love and uphold. It was also shot in a short time.
Much like Godard's hero in Breathless, Godard is the disillusioned, inspired, and seemingly aimless hero of Nouvelle Vague, who has a dream, has lost faith in traditional cinema, and seems to waste precious time during the shoot. Richard Linklater has filmed history in Nouvelle Vague, putting you in the same room as the revolutionaries who birthed the French New Wave.
Nouvelle Vague Is A Love Letter To Independent Cinema
There has never been a better time to be an independent filmmaker than today because of the opportunities created by technology, from cheaper equipment, better connectivity with like-minded people, and alternative means of funding. Yet, the artform is also under threat like never before, because recent events involving streaming platforms have jeopardized the experience of watching films in movie theaters.
So, at this juncture, a movie that openly celebrates the strengths of independent filmmaking, which challenges the means of production of traditional, narrative cinema, is of the utmost importance. Every review of Nouvelle Vague raves about how the movie is a love letter to Godard, to the French New Wave, to Breathless, and to independent cinema as an artistic pursuit.
Nouvelle Vague Perfectly Fits Into Linklater's Filmography
Jean-Luc Godard's philosophy of picking up a camera, choosing a few actors, and allowing a movie to go where it will naturally lead is a whimsical approach you don't see in many films, because the expense of making a film requires everything to be well-planned. However, among American filmmakers, Richard Linklater is the one whose movies consistently have that vibe.
The mumblecore movement is also a perfect demonstration of the French New Wave's influence on America, but Richard Linklater's interview about Slacker being his inspiration for Nouvelle Vague made me realize how much his approach to filmmaking upholds the ideals that motivated the likes of Godard, Truffaut, and Chabrol. Nouvelle Vague is at home among his previous easygoing, whimsical films.
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