We have reached a point where suspicion of “defanged nostalgia,” judged a conservative reflex, has itself become reflexive among a subset of critics and cinephiles to the point where the mere choice of pastiche as an aesthetic strategy provokes contemptuous dismissal. Particularly when the specter of AI looms, I do appreciate the concern, but for those of us who still find basic principles like thorough research, directorial finesse, and heartfelt intention among the tell-tale signs by which we might distinguish sentience from slop, Nouvelle Vague arrives as a charmingly human and refreshingly old-school, if not old-fashioned, piece of work.
— Edo Choi (Reverse Shot)
Synopsis: After writing for Cahiers du cinéma, a young Jean-Luc Godard decides making films is the best film criticism. He convinces producer Georges de Beauregard to fund a low-budget feature, and creates a treatment with fellow New Wave filmmaker François Truffaut about a gangster couple. The result? Breathless, one of the first features of the Nouvelle Vague era of French cinema.