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Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Nouvelle Vague' Review: Richard Linklater's French New Wave Cosplay Is More ‘Midnight in Paris' Than Histoire du Cinema
From Jean Seberg's sideswept pixie cut to Jean-Paul Belmondo's aviators, Jean-Luc Godard's 'Breathless' has become more fashionable in today's cultural imagination for its iconic looks and images than for how the jump-cut-pioneering renegade feature collapsed cinematic hierarchies as we knew them in 1960. That makes one of the greatest films of all time, and the standard bearer of the French New Wave, ripe for discovery for a younger generation — and fresher still for the older ones well familiar with it. If the best way to criticize a movie, as Cahiers du Cinéma critic Godard once said, is to make one, then director Richard Linklater's answer to making a tribute to 'Breathless' might instead be to not quite criticize but certainly to subvert the tropes of movies about moviemaking. His black-and-white 'Nouvelle Vague,' itself a meticulous recreation of a movie made in 1959 with all the celluloid, Academy-ratio crackle and pop, is more New Wave hangout movie than cinema history, with the parade of faces and names inspiring knowing chuckles in the cinephile audience. More from IndieWire 'Imago' Review: Chechen Documentary Explores a Filmmaker's Conflicted Return to His Roots 'Zootopia 2' Trailer: The Disney Sequel Introduces Reptiles with Ke Huy Quan's Mysterious Snake Beyond Godard, appearances from Claude Chabrol, François Truffaut, Jacques Rivette, Robert Bresson, Agnès Varda, and more figureheads — all played by lesser-known actors with varying likeness to their real-life counterparts — make for a veritable who's-who soufflé more akin to Woody Allen's 'Midnight in Paris' fin-de-siècle cosplay, where run-and-gun appearances by literary and artistic idols like Salvador Dalí, Gertrude Stein, Alice Toklas, Man Ray, Luis Buñuel, and Djuna Barnes provided little more than window-dressing to a Belle Époque time travel exercise. 'Nouvelle Vague' is deeper than that, though a lot of these namedrops exist without context beyond 'look, here they are.' It's greatly amusing to play a kind of 'I Spy' game in 'Nouvelle Vague' as to who's who in the ensemble — though the filmmakers take the guessing out with name cards that introduce each character as if in a Wes Anderson or, perhaps, a Godard movie that inspired someone like Anderson. But 'Nouvelle Vague,' perhaps by design, fails to make the case that 'Breathless' was a groundbreaking endeavor at all. That's perhaps because the on-the-ground, glue-and-paper-clips late-1950s crew at the time (besides maybe except Godard himself) didn't know what they had their hands on or what shape it would take. Godard's revolutionary crime drama about a guy, a girl, and a gun comes off more like a pet project or even a student film here, part of both the charms and frustrations of 'Nouvelle Vague.' Perpetually in dark sunglasses, newcomer Guillaume Marbeck plays Godard as little more than a caricature of the man who lagged behind his Cahiers du Cinéma peers (Rivette and Éric Rohmer among them) in terms of taking his cinephilia beyond the storied magazine and in front of a movie camera. But Marbeck cuts a rueful silhouette, a cigarette ever burnt to its nub in his hands, that could easily inspire some Instagram-friendly looks if 'Nouvelle Vague' finds the right audience (and I think a young one is ultimately what Linklater is after, here). Well-cast is Zoey Deutch as 'Breathless' breakout Jean Seberg in her nascent prime, who made the film two decades before she succumbed to mental illness and likely killed herself after becoming an FBI target for her political views (though her death remains the subject of mystery and speculation, in places like the podcast 'You Must Remember This,' which offers an addictive season paralleling the careers of Seberg and Jane Fonda as Hollywood political outcasts). There's little foreshadowing of the Seberg that would be, though when she's not twirling in fountains in an A-line dress here, Deutch wryly plays Seberg as a kind of mischievous backstage drama queen, complaining about the amateur production and its lack of sync sound to her disaffected husband, the filmmaker François Moreuil (Paolo Luka-Noé) — her first of a few toxic husbands. Seberg was mostly fluent in French, though Deutch (who maybe isn't) warmly captures the actress' charmingly terrible American accent — and even nails the intonation of 'New York Herald Tribune!' There's also reference to her fraught collaboration with Otto Preminger — he burned her at the stake quite literally for 'Saint Joan' (1957) and challenged her on the set of her coming-of-age breakout 'Bonjour Tristesse' (1958), the movie that inspired Godard to cast her. Those experiences must have made dealing with someone like Godard, who wrote that day's script pages for 'Breathless' over breakfast across the two-week shoot, and regularly threw out said pages or balked at his collaborators who accused him of shirking eyeline and continuity conventions. One of this film's big laughs comes from Belmondo (Aubry Dullin) bloodied and running through the street for the 'Breathless' finale, reassuring Parisian passers-by that it's only a movie. Some of the callbacks to elements of 'Breathless' outside the recreated production wear thin, like the repeated use of 'dégolas,' in reference to one of the 1960 movie's great quotable lines, outside of context. There's a bit of tee-hee you-get-it-right? to its inclusion in an early scene between Godard and his producer, Georges de Beauregard (Bruno Dreyfürst). There's a buddy comedy element to Godard's at times tempestuous relationship with his producer that makes for some of this film's most trenchant inquiries into the filmmaking mindset. 'Paying audiences enjoy a formal narrative,' he cautions Godard as disasters on 'Breathless' pile up — a wink to how resistant audiences were toward experimentation in favor of easier, blandly reassuring stories that tell you how to feel, and when, and why. That hasn't changed, as we all know, as the indie film hemisphere continues to dangerously contract. Linklater has long been an independent filmmaker who's only courted the studio system (his recent Netflix premiere 'Hit Man' is easily his most commercial film to date, though there have been others) without ever being asked to conform ('Waking Life' or 'A Scanner Darkly,' anyone?). There's no question Linklater identifies with Godard and is, like any filmmaker of his caliber and contemporary, one continually inspired by the French director's iconoclasm and stylistic derring-do. That said, 'Nouvelle Vague' isn't trying to be a movie that matches Godard's style or temperament, but is closer to the more conventionally shaped narratives driven by some of Godard's less canonical peers and many imitators. Godard gets sage advice from Roberto Rossellini (Laurent Mothe) in the run-up to making 'Breathless'; I can't corroborate whether this encounter ever happened, but Linklater drops in similar run-ins (like with Bresson shooting 'Pickpocket' in a Paris subway tunnel) that serve more to tell the story of the French New Wave, to capture its zeitgeist and energy, than a coherent by-the-books retelling. Which would be a drag, anyway, even as fastidious recreations of 'Breathless' movie moments might tell a different story. These French New Wave filmmakers, after all, were just running around Paris with cameras. Still, none were quite so making-it-up-as-they-went-along as Godard. David Chambille's celluloid cinematography and a period jazz soundtrack immerse us in this world more than the features of 'Midnight in Paris' managed to, while Catherine Schwartz's editing moves us through the 'Breathless' production at a quick clip. But these elements may not, for a naive audience, successfully make the case for the brilliance of 'Breathless' and how its pulp and punch inform pretty much everything such a younger audience watches these days. Hopefully, 'Nouvelle Vague' encourages you to look back and watch 'Breathless' again — or for the first time — but Linklater's movie may inadvertently suggest, 'You could just watch this one instead.' 'Nouvelle Vague' premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution. Want to stay up to date on IndieWire's film and critical thoughts? to our newly launched newsletter, In Review by David Ehrlich, in which our Chief Film Critic and Head Reviews Editor rounds up the best new reviews and streaming picks along with some exclusive musings — all only available to subscribers. Best of IndieWire The 25 Best Alfred Hitchcock Movies, Ranked Every IndieWire TV Review from 2020, Ranked by Grade from Best to Worst
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
In ‘Bonjour Tristesse,' Fashion Is a Main Character
PARIS — Forget about Charli XCX: This year's summer style icon might just be Jean Seberg. The U.S. actress with the pixie haircut is back in the spotlight thanks to two films: Richard Linklater's 'Nouvelle Vague,' which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and 'Bonjour Tristesse,' a new adaptation of French author Françoise Sagan's seminal coming-of-age novel. More from WWD Bethann Hardison Launches Foundation to Advance Young Talent Chanel and Tribeca Festival Announce 2025 Artist Awards Program Fondazione Prada Introduces 1.5 Million-euro Film Fund While Zoey Deutch plays Seberg in Linklater's black-and-white ode to the birth of French New Wave cinema, rising actress Lily McInerny reprises one of Seberg's most famous roles in the remake of 'Bonjour Tristesse,' which marks the feature film debut of Canadian writer and director Durga Chew-Bose. Seberg, who died in 1979 at the age of 40, played the lead character Cécile in Otto Preminger's 1958 adaptation of the book — a stylish affair that featured gowns by Givenchy, jewels by Cartier and accessories from Hermès. McInerny said she didn't see the original movie until after shooting was over. 'That was an intentional choice, so as not to even subconsciously try to mimic her incredible origination of Cécile,' she told WWD in an interview. 'Our films differ in many ways. Durga is truly a writer in her own world. She's working with the original text of the novel. She herself is very intentionally not trying to recreate anything that Preminger touched, so we both are big fans of the film and appreciate it very much, but they're very distinct in their styles,' she said. Watching Seberg navigate the plot, which chronicles the destructive behavior of a free-spirited 17-year-old and her playboy father, proved intense for the 26-year-old actress. 'I felt very emotional, and I felt very attached, and I felt very close to Jean Seberg in that moment, and it was almost like watching a distant relative or a friend I knew, or a weird sort of dream of myself,' McInerny mused. 'To have that connection with someone so glowing and untouchable as Jean Seberg, it was so cool.' For costume designer Miyako Bellizzi, the project was an excuse to indulge in her passion for period films and vintage fashion, which influenced the overall look of the film. 'I collect '30s, '40s, '50s clothes just in general. I have an archive of it all,' said Bellizzi, who was working concurrently on 'Marty Supreme,' which has garnered advance buzz for the '50s-era costumes she designed for stars Timothée Chalamet and Gwyneth Paltrow. 'From the very beginning, Durga and I always spoke about how we miss the beauty of old films and how, in a lot of more classic films, the way that costume design was approached was different to how it is now,' Bellizzi said, citing the work of legendary costume designers like Adrian and Edith Head. 'I mourn films that have good taste in clothing. It's one of my biggest pet peeves in contemporary films,' she added. 'I really wanted to showcase that, you know, bring it back.' The fact that one of the main characters in 'Bonjour Tristesse' is a fashion designer was the icing on the cake. Chloë Sevigny plays Anne, whose arrival at the family's holiday villa on the French Riviera sets in motion a deadly cycle of jealousy and retribution. Known for her work on movies including 'Good Time' and 'Uncut Gems,' Bellizzi relished the change of register. 'Most of my films are very male-heavy, and this is the first time I've had three women and it's so fashion-forward,' she said of working with McInerny, Sevigny and Nailia Harzoune, who plays Elsa, the father's girlfriend. Infused with a strong design sensibility, the film is a fashionista's delight as it revels in obscure references, rather than the splashy resortwear that is often the default wardrobe option for films and series set against a Mediterranean backdrop. 'We could do the 'White Lotus' of the south of France,' said Bellizzi, adding that the idea was discarded in favor of something more timeless. 'I wanted it to just be super classic.' She used Renaissance Renaissance, the Lebanese label founded by Cynthia Merhej that has twice reached the semifinals of the LVMH Prize, as the stand-in for Anne's fashion label. Sevigny wears several looks by the brand, in addition to vintage Yohji Yamamoto and Jean Paul Gaultier, and accessories by Sophie Buhai. Merhej also designed a key look for McInerny: a '50s-inspired pouf dress that symbolizes Cécile's transition from tomboy to ingenue. But a lot of her clothes in the film are authentically vintage: Bellizzi and McInerny got an early start on wardrobe prep by scouring secondhand stores in New York City. 'She lives down the street from me, so I'd be, like, 'Hey, let's go shop,'' Bellizzi recounted. 'She's so tiny that all the greatest, coolest vintage pieces fit her like a glove.' That includes a yellow swimsuit that was a nod to the one worn by Seberg in the original film. McInerny spends much of her time on screen in bathing suits and bikinis, but said she didn't feel self-conscious. 'That was never a hesitation for me,' she said. 'Stepping away from the film, I was like, 'Was I too covered up?' Because we're on the beaches of France, it's quite common to be topless.' Part of her confidence came from the fact that she's known Chew-Bose since she was a child. Part of it was knowing that Bellizzi had her back. 'Miyako really prioritizes an actor's comfort and confidence in the clothes that she's dressing you in. It goes a really long way in terms of our performance,' she said, adding that it's important to surrender personal hangups. 'Understanding your character thoroughly, you'll also understand what makes them feel confident and what makes them feel attractive, and that might be different from what you yourself would [wear] in your daily life,' she added. On the red carpet, McInerny has developed a close relationship with Celine since making her big screen debut in 2022 in the indie drama 'Palm Trees and Power Lines.' She collaborated with the French brand on her look for the 'Bonjour Tristesse' premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. 'I came to them with an image from the original Preminger film of Jean Seberg in this classic black party dress. It was one of my favorite costumes from the original film,' she recalled. 'To have anything custom designed for me would be a dream come true, let alone something so intimate and closely attached to this project so dear to me, and they came back to me in a couple of weeks with this gorgeous sketch of the dress that I ultimately wore to our debut,' McInerny said. She noted that Zouzou, former creative director Hedi Slimane's final fragrance for Celine, was billed as an homage to Sagan and Seberg. 'It felt very organic and meaningful to know that everyone behind the scenes and beyond was as passionate about the history we were stepping into,' the actress said. 'That's our greatest hope, that it transports you to an era of style and film that sometimes gets overlooked these days.' Launch Gallery: How 'Bonjour Tristesse' Channels Jean Seberg's Enduring Style Inspiration for Summer 2025 Best of WWD Celebrity Style at Coachella Through the Years: Taylor Swift, Amy Winehouse and More [PHOTOS] From John Galliano to Paul Smith, Designers Who've Created Christmas Trees at Claridge's The Most Over-the-top Hats From the Royal Ascot Races Through the Years
The Guardian
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Nouvelle Vague – Richard Linklater bends the knee to Breathless and Jean-Luc Godard
Breathless, deathless … and pointless? Here is Richard Linklater's impeccably submissive, tastefully cinephile period drama about the making of Godard's debut 1960 classic À Bout de Souffle, that starred Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo as the star-crossed lovers in Paris. Linklater's homage has credits in French and is beautifully shot in monochrome, as opposed to the boring old colour of real life in which the events were actually happening; he even cutely fabricates cue marks in the corner of the screen, those things that once told projectionists when to changeover the reels. But Linklater smoothly avoids any disruptive jump-cuts. It's a good natured, intelligent effort for which Godard himself, were he still alive, would undoubtedly have ripped Linklater a new one. (When Michel Hazanavicius made Redoubtable in 2017 about Godard's making of his 1967 film La Chinoise, the man himself called that 'a stupid, stupid idea'; Hazanavicius wasn't even making a film about Godard's first and biggest hit. Yet Linklater is of course unconsciously creating a stylistic homage – not to Godard, however, but to his much more emollient, accessible and Hollywood-friendly collaborator Francois Truffaut. Truffaut wrote the basic story for Breathless and thereby gave Godard his commercial success; it was based on a sensational true-crime story about a tough guy who shoots a cop and gets an American girlfriend on the run, grabbing at love and romance while he can, existentially aware that a cop-killer's days are numbered. The real-life characters of the Breathless story, from the most famous to the most obscure (this latter category being of course treated with rigorous superfan respect) are introduced with static portrait shots, gazing at the camera with their names flashed up on screen; even in the action itself, these people are often addressed by their full name with an awestruck sentence about their importance so we know where we are. Godard himself, a Cahiers Du Cinéma gunslinger-critic yearning to graduate to film-making, is played by newcomer Guillaume Marbeck, incessantly dropping epigrams and wisecracks and shruggingly dismissive pouts on the subject of cinema – and perhaps Godard was like this, at least some of the time. Linklater mischievously allows the audience to wonder if Godard will ever remove his sunglasses and get a 'beautiful librarian' moment, or at least a moment to confess that you shouldn't watch movies through dark glasses. Aubry Dillon plays Belmondo and Zoey Deutch is Seberg, forever breaking into fluent and Ohio-accented French. Adrien Rouyard is Truffaut, Matthieu Penchinat is the brilliant cinematographer Raoul Coutard whose news background in covering wars made him an inspired choice for Godard's guerrilla film-making adventures, Benjamin Clery is Godard's first assistant director Pierre Rissient and Bruno Dreyfürst is Godard's long-suffering producer George 'Beau Beau' Beauregard - whose disagreements with Godard over money lead to an undignified physical scuffle in a Paris cafe. The shoot begins, extended by Godard's haughtily capricious delays to accommodate authentic inspiration, as the actors amusingly say whatever they like to each other and the tyrannical director while the camera is turning, because everything is to be dubbed later in the studio. Continuity supervisor Suzon Faye (Pauline Belle) crossly tells Godard that his cavalier disregard for matching the eyelines in successive shots mean a problem in the edit; a hint of the imminent revolution in film grammar, perhaps, though Linklater's Godard has the humility to say he didn't invent jump-cuts. By the end, Linklater's Godard is as opaque and essentially imperturbable as he was in the beginning, seething with competitive anguish at the success of Truffaut's The 400 Blows in Cannes and struggling to get into parties and film sets; and again, none of this, arguably, is inaccurate. But it's all very smooth: a slick Steadicam ride through a historic, tumultuous moment. Nouvelle Vague screened at the Cannes film festival.
CairoScene
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
The French New Wave Edit
Bienvenue to the French New Wave Edit. C'est chic, non? Before it was a Pinterest aesthetic, the French New Wave was a full-on cultural revolution. Born in the late 1950s, this cinematic movement rewrote the rules of storytelling - with jump cuts, cigarette smoke, existential monologues, and the kind of nonchalant cool that still makes people swoon in film school. However, beyond the cinema's silver screen, it subtly sparked a style legacy that never really left. Think Anna Karina in a striped turtleneck, Jean Seberg in a trench coat and pixie cut, Jeanne Moreau, all black eyeliner and barely-there smirk. The fashion of the French New Wave was all about mood over perfection; effortlessly tailored trousers, crisp button-downs, a beret thrown on like an afterthought, and lipstick that says nonchalant. This edit borrows from that same spirit: a monochromatic base with bold pops, strong silhouettes, and that signature balance between polished and undone. It's the kind of look that works just as well on the streets of Dubai or Riyadh as it does wandering through the 5th arrondissement - with a baguette in one hand and your opinions on Godard in the other. Ahmed Amer | Madina Suit in Zaytoun FW25'26 This deconstructed wool suit riffs on traditional tailoring with boxy proportions and tonal embroidery that plays with perception. The exaggerated lapels and sharp neckline nod to New Wave's gender-fluid energy. Myne | Trench Coat in Khaki A classic trench with a cinematic flair, this piece is all about movement. The oversized silhouette, dramatic storm flap, and belted waist evoke Parisian cool with a rebellious undertone. Farah Seif | The Sparkly Set This flirty two-piece leans into sharp contrasts - structured shoulders, and a soft, pleated mini skirt. The cropped jacket modernizes '60s gamine chic, but the all-black palette keeps it crisp. A Nouvelle Vague girl would wear it to cause trouble in the 16th arrondissement. The Front Row Studios | The Classic Oversized Pants A sleek noir moment - this oversized black suit speaks in slow, smoky tones. With relaxed tailoring and minimalist design, it evokes the mood and stripped-back silhouettes of late-night French cinema. Maison Labiche | Striped Cotton Jumper with Logo This Parisian brand is perfect for classic striped knits. Soft and collegiate, this knit channels Left Bank intellectual cool with its chunky navy-and-white stripes and sailor-ish scarf. Embroidered with 'Labiche' in cursive, it's giving poetry readings at cafés - unmistakably French. Hayden | Selene Earrings The oversized gold hoops taps into the seductive side of the French wave. It's for a going-out look that's sleek and sparkly– a little Bardot, a little club scene. Brunello Cucinelli | Wool Beret Red wool, classic shape, and absolutely French, this beret is more than a cliché. It's structured yet soft, topping off the edit with a wink to French girl tropes turned subversive. COS | Longline Linen Blazer & Trousers Clean lines, creamy tones, and a collarless cut that honours minimalist tailoring, COS's SS25 moment is sleek but approachable, like if Jean-Pierre Léaud grew up and worked in creative direction. Georges Hobeika | Look 25 in Ready-to-Wear Fall 2025 This leather mini with feathered hem is all about movement and allure. The high neckline balances sensuality with structure, creating a silhouette you could imagine dancing through an underground jazz bar. Mamzi | Arc Set Architectural and assertive, this two-piece with asymmetrical shoulder detail feels sculptural and cinematic. The checkered print nods to classic tailoring while the bold cuts belong on a woman who lives her life like a scene-stealer. Atelier Hekayat | Red Leather Gloves These high-gloss crimson leather gloves feel lifted from a 1960s film frame - moody, glamorous, and just a touch surreal. It channels the theatrical flair that's at the heart of the French New Wave. Nafsika Skourti | The Shiza Crafted in a soft stretch jersey, this body-hugging dress stuns from the back with its sculptural cut-outs and velvet crystal-studded bows. It's minimal from the front, maximal from behind - a duality that echoes the New Wave's play on surprise and subversion. Sézane | Max Shirt This oversized striped shirt nods to boyish tailoring but softens it with flowy movement and a French effortlessness. Worn undone or tucked into wide-leg denim, it channels the kind of ease Godard's heroines were known for. Guerlain | Aqua Allegoria Mandarine Basilic Forte This scent is summer bottled, like sun-warmed citrus groves laced with hints of basil and vanilla woods. It's light enough to feel effortless, yet deep enough to leave an impression - like a final line in a French film that lingers in the air. Bassam Fattouh Cosmetics | Dual Edge Eyeliner This graphic liner that does both: precision and smudge. One end delivers sharp noir lines, the other gives a smoky softness - perfect for building drama or dialing it down. It's the kind of liner Brigitte Bardot would swipe on in a dressing room mirror, cigarette in hand. Yasmin Mansour | Ivory Pleated Suit Set This tailored cream suit reimagined with pleated sleeves flares into sculptural volume. The exaggerated silhouette adds movement and eccentricity to a traditional cut, much like the architectural layers of a Truffaut heroine's personality. Huda Beauty | Power Bullet Matte in El Cinco de Mayo A fiery red with a creamy matte finish, this Huda Beauty lip stick feels like pure confidence. Bold but wearable, it can turn a simple outfit like a white tee and denim into a look. ASL Line | Sheer Crochet Tie-Neck Blouse This open-weave lace blouse is adorned with a dramatic statement bow and layered pearls - a textural feast that feels vintage, but not dated. The mix of softness and bold accessorizing speaks to the contradictions that defined New Wave fashion: flirty yet assertive, classic yet current. Velvety Couture | The Crepe Hand-Embroidered Pencil Dress This hand-embroidered crepe gown with a draped neckline and detachable taffeta shawl offers a refined silhouette with a hint of sensuality. Its clean lines, vintage feel and glamour fit perfectly into a cinematic moodboard, echoing the poised elegance of an Anna Karina close-up. BLSSD | Lexi Pocket Shirt Understated but intentional, this piece evokes a borrowed-from-the-boys attitude that made New Wave style so iconic. It's a modernist staple, with its white shade, oversized silhouette, cotton fabric, elbow-length sleeves and subtle side seam pockets. The Attico | La Passeggiata Small A striking red structured handbag with playful curves, it's both retro and exaggerated. The pop of colour and glossy texture would be perfect to disrupt a monochrome look à la New Wave iconography.
