''Nouvelle Vague'' (English: ''New Wave'') is a 1990 French film written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard. It follows the story of hitchhiker Lennox (

Alain Delon Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; born 8 November 1935) is a French actor and filmmaker. He was one of Europe's most prominent actors and screen sex symbols in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, he won the César Award for Best Actor for h ...

) credited as "Lui" ("''Him''"), taken in by a wealthy industrialist, Elena Torlato-Favrini or "Elle" ("''Her''"), played by

Domiziana Giordano Domiziana Giordano (born 4 September 1959) is an Italian artist, actress, photographer, and video artist. Giordano has played roles in work directed by Mauro Bolognini, Jean-Luc Godard, Neil Jordan, Ken McMullen, Nicolas Roeg, and Andrei ...

. The film was entered into the

1990 Cannes Film Festival The 43rd Cannes Film Festival was held from 10 to 21 May 1990. The Palme d'Or went to '' Wild at Heart'' by David Lynch. The festival opened with ''Dreams'', directed by Akira Kurosawa and closed with '' The Comfort of Strangers'', directed by Pau ...

. It has (as of 2019) never been released on any home video format in North America, but the audio was issued as a 2CD set by ECM.

Plot

La Contessa Elena Torlato-Favrini (her last name taken from ''

The Barefoot Contessa ''The Barefoot Contessa'' is a 1954 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz about the life and loves of fictional Spanish sex symbol Maria Vargas. It stars Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, and Edmond O'Brien. The film's slo ...

'') is a wealthy Italian industrialist living in a sprawling estate near Lake Geneva, Switzerland. She is attended by Jules the Gardener, his wife Yvonne, their daughter Cécile, the chauffeur Laurent, and the mysterious Della La Rue (or "Della Street," a reference to

Erle Stanley Gardner Erle Stanley Gardner (July 17, 1889 – March 11, 1970) was an American lawyer and author. He is best known for the Perry Mason series of detective stories, but he wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces and also a series of nonfiction bo ...

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a cli ...

stories). At the film's opening, Elena goes for a drive by herself and encounters Roger Lennox (his last name taken from '' The Long Goodbye''), an apparent drifter. Elena's trajectory is brought to an abrupt halt as she stops to help Roger, who has evidently been forced off the road by a truck and is severely incapacitated. Roger offers Elena his hand, and Elena accepts his offer (the "miracle of empty hands," borrowed from ''

Diary of a Country Priest ''Diary of a Country Priest'' (french: Journal d'un curé de campagne) is a 1951 French drama film written and directed by Robert Bresson, and starring Claude Laydu in his debut film performance. A faithful adaptation of Georges Bernanos' nove ...

''). The series of exchanges constituting their relationship begins. The narrative continues with Roger now Elena's kept man. He dotes on her and is obedient to her retinue that includes Elena's lawyer Raoul Dorfman, Raoul's girlfriend, the Doctor (one of Elena's shareholders), and the Doctor's wife Dorothy Parker, a writer like her

namesake A namesake is a person, geographic location, or other entity bearing the name of another. History The word is first attested around 1635, and probably comes from the phrase "for one's name's sake", which originates in English Bible translations ...

. After a series of episodes in which both members of the couple express dissatisfaction with the other, and together ruminate on regret, Elena decides to take a motorboat across the lake to visit some friends. Roger obediently drives the boat, and stops when Elena wants to get in the water, but refuses to join her, citing his inability to swim. In a mishap evocative of their first meeting, Roger falls into the water as Elena gets back into the boat. Elena watches him drown and does not help, appearing indifferent to his plight. The servants and Raoul quickly attempt to cover up any existence of Roger but almost immediately there is a new crisis: a man identical to Roger, calling himself Richard Lennox and claiming to be Roger's brother, appears. He claims to know about the boating incident and is apparently using that as leverage to take over one of Elena's companies. Where before the figure of Lennox was passive and docile, he is now shrewd and aggressive; it is Elena that now becomes pliant. The power struggle reaches a climax in a recapitulation of the boating scene. Now it is Lennox who decides to take the boat out (this time a rowboat), and it is Elena who falls into the water, apparently unable to swim. Richard, at first as indifferent to Elena as she was to Roger Lennox in the same situation, abruptly takes Elena's hand and saves her. In the end, an equilibrium is reached. Elena realizes that Richard Lennox is the same man as Roger Lennox ("the same, but different"). Richard has taken on a controlling role in Elena's affairs but Elena remains in charge. With renewed vigor, Elena warmly bids ''arrivederci'' to her servants (Richard having earlier arranged to sell the estate for a large sum of money), and Elena and Richard in turn drive away, apparently off to have more adventures as equals.

Cast

as Richard Lennox/Roger Lennox ("Lui") *

as Elena Torlato-Favrini ("Elle") *

Jacques Dacqmine Jacques Dacqmine (1923–2010) was a French stage, film and television actor.Hayward p.242 He was married four times, including to the actress Odile Versois. Partial filmography * '' Premier rendez-vous'' (1941) - Un élève du collège (uncred ...

as the PDG *

Christophe Odent Christophe may refer to: People * Christophe (given name), list of people with this name * Christophe (singer) (1945–2020), French singer * Cristophe (hairstylist) (born 1958), Belgian hairstylist * Georges Colomb (1856–1945), French comic str ...

as Raoul Dorfman, the lawyer * Roland Amstutz as Jules, the gardener * Laurence Côte as Cécile * Laurence Guerre as Della, la secrétaire * Joseph Lisbona as Dr. Parker * Laure Killing as Dorothy Parker, the doctor's wife * Véronique Muller as Raoul's first girlfriend * Maria Pitarresi as Raoul's second girlfriend * Jacques Viallette as the factory director * Brigitte Marvine as the journalist in the restaurant * Cécile Reigher as a servant * Pascal Sablier as the Iranian client * Violaine Barret as the gardener's wife

Music

* Paolo Conte : ''Blue Tango'' * David Darling : ''Far Away Lights'', ''Solo Cello'', ''Clouds'', ''Solo Cello And Voice'' *

Gabriella Ferri Gabriella Ferri (18 September 1942 – 3 April 2004) was an Italian singer born in Rome. Ferri's career began in a Milan nightclub in 1963. By 1965, she had broken into the Rome singing scene by singing popular Roman songs, thereby becoming ...

: ''A Zaza'' *

Paul Giger Paul Giger (born 1952 in Herisau, Switzerland), is a Swiss violinist and composer. He plays contemporary classical music, jazz, and free improvisation, free improvised music, and specializes in extended techniques. He has released six CDs on the ...

: ''Crossing'' *

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the '' ...

: ''Mathis der Maler (Grablegung)'', ''Trauermusik'', ''Mathis der Maler (Versuchung des heiligen Antonius)'', ''Sonate für Viola (1937)'', ''Sonate für Bratsche allein Op. 25/1'' * Heinz Holliger : ''Trema für Violoncello solo'' * Werner Pirchner : ''Kammer-Symphonie'', ''Sonate vom rauen Leben'', ''Do You Know Emperor Joe'', ''Kleine Messe um „C“ für den lieben Gott'' *

Dino Saluzzi Timoteo "Dino" Saluzzi (born 20 May 1935) is an Argentinian bandoneon player. He is the son of Cayetano Saluzzi and the father of guitarist José Maria Saluzzi. Early life, family and education Timoteo "Dino" Saluzzi was born in Campo Santo, S ...

: ''Winter'', ''Transmutation'', ''Andina'' *

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

: ''Verklärte Nacht'' *

Jean Schwartz Jean Schwartz (November 4, 1878 – November 30, 1956) was a Hungarian-born American songwriter. Schwartz was born in Budapest, Hungary. His family moved to New York City when he was 13 years old. He took various music-related jobs including dem ...

: ''Charta Koa'' *

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

: ''Distant Fingers''

Discography

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic (1997 film), Titanic'', the List of highest-grossing films, highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; ...

: ''Jean-Luc Godard / Nouvelle vague'' (ECM NEW SERIES 1600/01 449 891-2,

ECM Records ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) is an independent record label founded by Karl Egger, Manfred Eicher and Manfred Scheffner in Munich in 1969. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a variety of recordings, and ECM's ...

, Munich), box including : ** Portfolio with the track listing. ** Booklelt containing the essay ''Le Regard intérieur'' by Claire Bartoli, author and play-writer. ** CD 1, 50 minutes ** CD 2, 38 minutes

Background

Most of the dialogue in the film consists of quotations from various sources, mostly literary. The chauffeur periodically asks the Lennox character "was you ever bit by a dead bee?" – a reference to the Bogart and Bacall film ''

To Have and Have Not ''To Have and Have Not'' is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1937 by Charles Scribner's Sons. The book follows Harry Morgan, a fishing boat captain out of Key West, Florida. ''To Have and Have Not'' was Hemingway's second novel set in th ...

''. Though Godard's previous films had been peppered with quotation and allusion, this is his first film where the dialogue is almost entirely quotation, a practice that he has continued in films such as '' Film Socialisme'' and '' Adieu au Langage''. This is also the first film of many in which Godard takes the soundtrack music from the catalogue of

, whereas in the 80's he made extensive use of classical music. ECM has in turn released
complete soundtrack
to the film from beginning to end, including the film's music, dialogue, and ambient sounds.

Themes

Godard has said that the film is an allegory of the history of film. Elena represents the film industry. In the first half Lennox represents film and its makers that are taken in hand by the industry and nurtured but allowed to perish, or almost perish. Film is reborn in the figure of the French New Wave ("La Nouvelle Vague"), the filmmakers of which arrived armed with knowledge of the history of film but shrewd enough to manipulate the industry for their own ends, thus saving the industry from its own demise. Godard scholars like

David Sterritt David Sterritt (born September 11, 1944) is a film critic, author and scholar. He is most notable for his work on Alfred Hitchcock and Jean-Luc Godard, and his many years as the Film Critic for ''The Christian Science Monitor'', where, from 1 ...

, Kaja Silverman, and

Harun Farocki Harun Farocki (9 January 1944 – 30 July 2014) was a German filmmaker, author, and lecturer in film. Early life and education Farocki was born as Harun El Usman FaroqhiMargalit Fox (3 August 2014)''New York Times''. in Neutitschein, which is n ...

have identified other themes in the film.

Reception

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

, writing in
contemporaneous review
in '' The New York Times'', damned the film as little more than a "feature-length lipstick commercial," concluding that "only people who despise the great Godard films ... could be anything but saddened by this one." The reviewer's final pronouncement in a review that sealed the film's lack of success in the United States was "the party's over," apparently washing his hands of Godard's career as well as the film. However, the film was championed elsewhere and was hailed as one of the very best films of the year by such critics a
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_of_''The_Village_Voice''.html" ;"title="The_Village_Voice.html" ;"title="Jim Hoberman">Jim Hoberman
of ''The Village Voice">Jim Hoberman">Jim Hoberman
of ''The Village Voice''">The_Village_Voice.html" ;"title="Jim Hoberman">Jim Hoberman
of ''The Village Voice">Jim Hoberman">Jim Hoberman
of ''The Village Voice''an
Jonathan Rosenbaum
of ''The Chicago Reader'']. Canby's opinion has been disputed by later critics and scholars as well. In his boo
''The Films of Jean-Luc Godard: Seeing the Invisible''
David Sterritt devotes an entire chapter to the film, calling it a "complicated work" that has "especially strong links to '' Hail Mary'' and the other 'sublime' movies." Kaja Silverman and Harun Farocki likewise devote an entire chapter to the film in their ''Speaking About Godard''. Based on 6 reviews, ''Nouvelle Vague'' has an approval rating of 67% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

References

External links

* {{Jean-Luc Godard 1990 films Swiss fantasy films 1990s French-language films French avant-garde and experimental films 1990 fantasy films French fantasy films 1990s romantic fantasy films Films directed by Jean-Luc Godard 1990s avant-garde and experimental films 1990s French films