At the next Espoo Ciné Recommends screening, cinephiles can look forward to a dream come true: Nouvelle vague — a film whose atmosphere you’ll want to move into and live in. Richard Linklater’s stylish film will be shown in the Espoo Ciné Recommends series on Thursday, 11 December 2025 at 5:15 PM at Kino Tapiola. Get your tickets from the Kino Tapiola online store!
“Richard Linklater brings history vividly to life without falling into stiffness: perhaps the birth of the French New Wave really did look and feel like this kind of restless energy. Choosing an American director to portray the Cahiers du Cinéma clan is fitting, since Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol, François Truffaut and the other "young turks" admired American cinema more than anything. And although the heart of the film revolves around the making of Godard’s feature debut Breathless, Linklater does not create a great man biopic or build a myth of genius — instead he beautifully captures the entire creative community surrounding the film.”
– Tytti Rantanen, Executive Director, Espoo Ciné
Richard Linklater’s ode to the joy of filmmaking dives into the delightful twists behind the production of Jean-Luc Godard’s legendary film Breathless.
There was plenty of buzz in the Cahiers du Cinéma editorial office. Among the writers, Claude Chabrol had already directed two films. François Truffaut was heading to the Cannes Film Festival to present his debut The 400 Blows. Godard swiped travel money from the magazine’s cash box and tagged along. Everyone knew something new was about to happen.
Godard had to direct. And it’s easy: trick a producer into joining, persuade Jean Seberg (Zoey Deutch) to shine in the lead role, and Jean-Paul Belmondo (Aubry Dullin) is born to play a rogue. Each morning, they scribble a bit of script in a café, then shoot for an hour — or a whole day. It’ll be a movie, all right. In supporting roles, figures reminiscent of Robert Bresson, Jean-Pierre Melville and Roberto Rossellini make appearances.
All of this is historically accurate and entirely invented at the same time. At the height of his career, Richard Linklater (Before trilogy, Boyhood) captures the immediacy that permeated the shoot — in front of and behind the camera, and especially during the many breaks in between.
The Espoo Ciné Recommends preview series continues again in February!