Nouvelle vague (1990)

Writer:

Jacques Audiberti (novel)
(more)

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
Raphaël Delpard
Brigitte Marvine	...	Brigitte, la journaliste
Steve Suissa	...	Le serveur restaurant
François Germond
Maria Pitarresi	...	L'amie de Raoul 2
Laure Killing	...	Dorothy Parker, la femme du docteur
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jacques Vialette	...	Le directeur de l'usine (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean-Luc Godard		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Jean-Luc Godard		(scenario) uncredited
Jacques Audiberti		novel "Monorail"

Produced by
Alain Sarde	....	producer

Cinematography by
William Lubtchansky

Film Editing by
Jean-Luc Godard		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Anne-Marie Miéville

Costume Design by
Ingebord Dietsche
Marie-Françoise Perochon
Melusine Shamber

Makeup Department
Josée De Luca	....	makeup artist
Patrick Villain	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Daniel Champagnon	....	production manager
Hervé Duhamel	....	unit manager
Emmanuel Finkiel	....	unit manager
Christine Gozlan	....	unit manager
François Roch	....	unit manager
Claudia Sontheim	....	unit manager
Ruth Waldburger	....	production manager: Vega Films (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Claude Chiquet	....	assistant director
Jean-Marie Gindraux	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Pierre-Alain Besse	....	sound
Henri Morelle	....	sound
François Musy	....	sound mixer
Miguel Rejas	....	sound recordist
Willi Studer	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Guy-Auguste Boléat	....	gaffer: Images (as Guy Antoine Boleat)
Jim Howe	....	gaffer: Images
Frank Messmer	....	camera operator: Images
Christophe Pollock	....	assistant camera: Images
Pierre Speyer	....	key grip: Images
Jean-Michel Vincent	....	key grip: Images (as Jean Michel Vincent)
Richard Weber	....	electrician: Images

Other crew
Hélène Sébillotte	....	script supervisor: Images (as Helene Sebillotte)

Production Companies

• Sara Films
• Peripheria
• Canal+ (as Canal Plus)
• Vega Film
• Télévision Suisse-Romande (TSR) (as Télévision Romande)
• Antenne-2 (as Antenne 2)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (as C.N.C)
• Soficas Investimages

Distributors

• AMLF (1990) (France)
• Kinokuniya (2003) (Japan) (DVD)
• Video Search of Miami (2009) (USA) (DVD) (subtitled)

Other Companies

• Eclair  laboratory

Also Known As:

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:

References Purple Noon (1960)

Soundtrack:

Kammer-Symphonie

Ambitious project, more or less successfully executed

Vague is the important word here. It's a shame that Godard spoils the memory of a truly remarkable genre of films in using the title, New Wave, for this disappointing effort from 1990. Vague is screen legend, Alain Delon's expression throughout the film; vague is the message which Godard fails to communicate; vague is the attempt which the auteur makes to be innovative and relevant, so many years after his genius first sparked revolution in the seventh art.

Down to the nitty-gritty: Godard attempts a film whose dialogue is based on a mixture of abrasive, noisy hyper-realism, and sombre, philosophic truisms. In this sense he achieves some grade of success. The film skips on at it's own idiosyncratic pace, jerking one way, and then another, through the landscape of late-Twentieth-Century, European capitalism and empty, absurd avarice. Some of these jagged, philosophical bursts of conversation are successfully framed by the mechanical and natural surrounds in a manner unique to Godard. He disdains obvious narrative constructs in favour of a more jarring technique, throwing together literary and cinematic quotations to raise questions which seem never to be answered. However, many of the ideas presented appear overly contrived and incoherent, almost as if he has given up attempting to resolve any of the larger philosophical issues, and instead satisfies himself with an indulgent, dignified surrender to the inevitable.

Domiziana Giordano's performance, as the ponderous, Italian heiress Elena Torlato-Favrini, is more irritating than poetically captivating, as might have been the director's intention. Her limited emotional range, her unnecessary mix of languages, and Alain Delon's almost bemused reaction leaves a tone of falsity and pretension hanging in the air, and ringing in the viewer's ear. Delon himself seems lost and miscast in his double role of hapless, taciturn, accident victim Roger Lennox, and his self-assured, gregarious twin, Richard. The film's confused, and ultimately superfluous plot, restricts his potential to inject any significant improvisation, charisma or depth into either of these crude alter egos. If anything, he is more successful depicting the ambitious, devil-may-care doppelganger than portraying the silent, submissive apprentice, reluctantly introduced into the shallow world of Godard's European upper classes.

Visually, of course, Nouvelle Vague has many of the marks of the great French filmmaker. He paints, with the excellent collaboration of cinematographer William Lubtchansky, visions derived from a world comprised of memory and half-understood dreams. Nostalgia is always on the threshold, as Godard revisits the luxuriant, natural environment of his youth, now lit with late evening shadows and golden autumn tones. Also to be welcomed are the touches of humour which offer some relief from the cumbersome, and often clichéd, musings of the various characters. Chief amongst the running jokes is the existential angst, represented by a recurring question pronounced by Raoul Dorfman's (Christophe Odent) beautiful, young, trophy girlfriend (Maria Pitarresi): "What will I do ?" His pragmatic response: "Admire the nature"; "admire the architecture"; "admire the furniture !". Less welcome is the discordant soundtrack, which makes viewing the film a decidedly uncomfortable experience.