ENTURE IN FILM HISTORY: NOUVELLE VAGUE

With France’s Nouvelle Vague (New Wave), cinema was reinvented a second time. The architects: young filmmakers in 1950s Paris. Influenced by existentialism, the Cold War, and jazz, Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, and Jacques Rivette crafted a contemporary film aesthetic, articulating it through reviews and essays. The newly founded magazine “Cahiers du cinéma” served as their publication platform.

The young rebels railed against French art cinema, instead elevating directors of Hollywood and B-movies to the throne: Howard W. Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, and Samuel Fuller. But it didn’t stop at theorizing. Soon, the first short films began to emerge.

Jean-Luc Godard made his breakthrough with *Breathless* (1959). Shot on the streets and in apartments of Paris, this film transformed the Nouvelle Vague into a veritable wave that swept through European and American cinemas. Jump cuts, natural light, handheld cameras, and the inclusion of random passersby as extras have been part of cinematic language ever since. Numerous anecdotes circulate about the making of *Breathless*. But there is no making-of documentary. Only texts and photos offer glimpses behind the scenes.

That’s when US independent filmmaker Richard Linklater had a brilliant idea: Let’s simply recreate the making-of for this cult film. Admittedly, it’s 67 years late, but better late than never. The result is NOUVELLE VAGUE (2025), currently showing at the b-ware! Ladenkino.

Just in time for the premiere, the Filmkunst Video Library is offering Godard’s *Breathless* and other early works by New Wave filmmakers on DVD for rent. Also available are the Hollywood films that served as models and inspiration for these young French filmmakers.

By the way, the legendary “Cahiers du cinéma” is still around. Film buffs regularly compile their “best-of” lists in its pages. The Filmkunst video store has selected a few films from the current charts and placed them on two special shelves. In short, plenty of provisions for your personal adventure through film history.