Richard Linklater Breaks Down the Similarities Between Netflix’s Nouvelle Vague and Slacker

On its face, Nouvelle Vague couldn’t beryllium immoderate much antithetic than thing Richard Linklater has ever made. The movie, which deed prime theaters a fewer weeks backmost and debuts connected Netflix today, is achromatic and white, chiefly successful French (a connection Linklater doesn’t speak) and isn’t adjacent changeable successful a widescreen facet ratio. But the movie is inactive a hangout movie done and through.

Nouvelle Vague follows the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 classical movie Breathless, a movie that signaled the triumph of French cinema’s New Wave and a cardinal displacement successful filmmaking from Europe to Hollywood and beyond. But astatine its halfway Linklater’s movie is astir a radical of coworkers enjoying each other’s institution and hanging retired portion trying to fulfill their director’s often frustrating demands.

I spoke with Linklater astir making Nouvelle Vague and helium says that, contempt each of the stylistic differences from his erstwhile beloved works similar Dazed and Confused, Slacker, and Everybody Wants Some!, helium couldn’t assistance but marque different hangout movie.

“It's truthful comic from my perspective, I effort to propulsion myself to bash antithetic things,” Linklater says. “I couldn't beryllium doing thing much different. (Nouvelle Vague is) successful French, it's achromatic and white, the facet ratios I haven't changeable successful before. But you're stuck with yourself. I spell backmost and I marque a French hangout movie! I wanted to consciousness similar you time-traveled backmost to ‘59. That’s the vibe of the movie.”

Linklater says that the French New Wave has been an inspiration passim his career. “The archetypal movie I made that anyone wanted to spot was Slacker,” helium says. “I made that precise overmuch similar a French New Wave film. I didn't person a accepted publication and changeable it precise unconventionally. I had occupation similar Godard successful (Breathless). He had benignant of occupation explaining what the movie means to everybody. I was successful that position.

“It was precise idiosyncratic to me, capturing each the exhilaration of making a archetypal movie with each the volatility successful the aerial (and) insecurity. If you're going to bash thing different, it's good to bash it differently, adjacent if it does propulsion the boundaries of everyone astir you.”

Guillaume Marbeck, who plays Breathless manager Jean-Luc Godard successful Nouvelle Vague, says the movie is simply a bully primer for anyone unfamiliar with New Wave Cinema. “I deliberation it's decidedly an introduction constituent for discovering the New Wave and besides possibly creator films oregon much creation location movies,” Marbeck says. “And I deliberation it's truly a joyful hanging retired movie with radical making their archetypal film. I deliberation it's a large introduction constituent connected however you escaped yourself and marque your worldly your own. (The movie) is not conscionable astir discovering the New Wave.”

For her part, Zoey Deutch, who plays American histrion Jean Seberg, utilized her acquisition arsenic 1 of the fewer Americans connected acceptable to pat into Seberg’s acquisition making Breathless. “The connection obstruction was precise adjuvant for me,” Deutch says. “But the existent vigor of our acceptable was precise antithetic evidently from her experience. I couldn't person been supported more. I was the slightest skeptical histrion successful the satellite making this movie. And (when it came to Godard’s benignant of filmmaking) Jean (was) decidedly the skeptic successful Nouvelle Vague.”

Nouvelle Vague marks the archetypal movie for Aubry Dullin, who plays Seberg’s on-screen costar Jean-Paul Belmondo. The histrion says that moving with Linklater was an acquisition experience. “I've learned truthful overmuch due to the fact that of the mode (Linklater) works,” helium says. “It's caller for me. I hadn't worked similar that earlier Richard, and truthful I deliberation helium helped maine for the remainder of my career. When you get connected the shooting day, you conscionable cognize what you person to do. And truthful you don't person to beryllium stressed, you conscionable person to travel everyone and conscionable person fun.”

Nouvelle Vague is streaming present connected Netflix.