Nouvelle vague (1990)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Writers:

Release Date:

23 May 1990 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Afterlife | Avant Garde | Quotation | Art Film | Imagery

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Alain Delon	...	Lui: Roger Lennox, Richard Lennox
Domiziana Giordano	...	Elle: Elena Torlato-Favrini
Jacques Dacqmine	...	Le PDG
Christophe Odent	...	Raoul Dorfman, l'avocat
Roland Amstutz	...	Jules, le jardinier
Cécile Reigher	...	La serveuse
Laurence Côte	...	Cécile, la gouvernante
Joseph Lisbona	...	Le docteur
Véronique Müller	...	L'amie de Raoul 1
Joe Sheridan	...	Robert, aka Bob
Belkacem Tatem
Violaine Barret	...	Yvonne, la femme du jardinier
Hubert Ravel	...	Laurent
Laurence Guerre	...	La secrétaire
Pascal Sablier	...	Le client iranien

Also Known As:

New Wave

Runtime:

Argentina:90 min | USA:89 min

Country:

Switzerland | France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:7

Filming Locations:

Switzerland

Company:

Sara Films

Trivia:

It has been claimed that every line of dialogue in this film is a quotation.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in JLG/JLG - autoportrait de décembre (1995)

Soundtrack:

Kleine Messe um C für den lieben Gott

a pretentious and largely pointless Art film

This is an empty shell of a film, washed up and abandoned by the vibrancy which once pulsed through the Godard canon. The fresh approach from the sixties has 'matured' into little more than a largely fruitless exercise in intellectual pretension, occasionally engaging (the mere presence of Alain Delon is enough for this), but more often than not wilfully obfuscatory and infuriatingly half-baked.

The editing is as lively as ever but serves for little when used to accompany the thin story of the countess (Domiziana Giordano trying ever so hard to be enigmatic) and her shady business dealings. There are too many only half-explored ideas, such as the familiar Marxist class considerations, expressed in cod philosophical voice-over musings, for the film to achieve a satisfactory sense of wholeness. Indeed, superficially clever but ultimately meaningless assertions such as `Maybe a man isn't enough for a woman, or perhaps he's too much' would be more in place in the glossy surroundings of a Calvin Klein advert. The title acts as an ironic and sad reminder of what the director once was, but I get the feeling he isn't really trying any more.