With the 52nd Telluride Film Festival set to kick off in the Rockies on Friday, The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Richard Linklater, the veteran filmmaker who is the only director with multiple films in this year’s lineup: Nouvelle Vague, a black-and-white homage to the French New Wave, which Netflix will release in theaters Oct. 31 and on its platform Nov. 14; and Blue Moon, a portrait of Lorenz Hart on the opening night of Oklahoma!, the musical co-composed by his former collaborator, Richard Rodgers, which Sony Classics will release in theaters Oct. 17. The wide-ranging conversation appears transcribed below, lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
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Can you recall when you discovered the French New Wave and what it meant to you?
I think I saw Breathless for the first time in 1982. That was one of the first official Nouvelle Vague films that I saw. Then I read a book on the New Wave. And I really loved the spirit of it all. I think I internalized that, the spirit of that time. To me, the Nouvelle Vague will always be about personal films and freedom of expression — in other words, you can make a film about anything. [François] Truffaut wrote wonderfully about this in the mid-’50s, when he was still a critic making shorts. He was like, “The film of the future will be an act of love. You can make it about a love affair or your childhood.” He was really predicting his own future. And that was true to all of them. They made very different films, but the inspiration was similar. Like, “Hey, we’re going to do what interests us. We’ll do twists on genres and filmmakers we love and all that.”
You’ve said that it was 13 years between having the idea for Nouvelle Vague and finishing the film. What sparked the idea, and why did it take 13 years?
Vince and Holly Palmo, my longtime friends and cinephile collaborators, said, “Hey, we’re working on this thing about the French New Wave, about the making of Breathless.” I’m like, “Really? Well, shit, let me read that.” And then I saw what they were trying to do. This is a very well-documented era. You have a lot of photos, a lot of documentaries, a lot of memoirs — and, once we got closer to production, we had camera reports, so I could tell you how many takes they did of everything. But yeah, it really starts with that script, and then we played with it over the years, and honed it into what it could be. It seemed like a really difficult film to ever get made. I tried to get it made about 10 years ago. I sent it out a little bit, and it didn’t seem like the time was right. I was doing other things, too.
Well, that’s interesting, because I was going to ask you if you would have made this film if Godard was still alive — and 10 years ago, he was. He died in 2022. So it sounds like the answer is yes?
Yeah. I was trying to, before he passed away. I remember I was in New Orleans doing Hit Man when he died. I was like, “I’ve been dreading this day for many, many years.” But then it kind of re-energized the project in a way. I think it helped get me financing in France. It was like, “Oh, yeah. Now that he’s gone, it’s time to pay tribute.” And by that point they were all gone. Jacques Rozier died in 2023, and I think he was the last one. Everyone in the movie’s gone except the assistant editor. If it was 10 years ago, a lot of them would’ve been alive still, but there has been a big attrition rate.
Would it have been exciting or daunting for you if they had been able to see what you were up to?
I flatter myself to think they would have been on set with a smile on their face. I think they would’ve thought it was pretty funny. Like, “Who’s this American?!” But I don’t know. When we made it, I worked to earn everybody’s respect. Everyone liked the script so much. They were like, “Oh, it’s really accurate.” I’m like, “Hell, yeah. We’re not messing around.”
Another thing the original New Wavers would have been blown away by, I think, is how much the actors who you cast resembled the real people. For instance, I assumed that the actor who you cast as Belmondo, Aubry Dullin, was his grandson or something, because he looks so much like him.
You know it when you meet them, and it’s exciting. Here’s a funny story: Belmondo’s grandson [Victor Belmondo], who’s a wonderful French actor, came in [to audition]. I was like, “Oh, yeah. Good actor.” But there was this other guy who had an easier smile, so I was like, “Sorry, Belmondo, but you’re not Belmondo enough.” Aubry was just perfect. He had that quick smile, an ease about him, he’s just a charming guy. Nothing got to him. He was Mr. Cool Cat. He was Belmondo. And Guillaume [Marbeck, who plays Jean-Luc Godard], was really smart, a little edgy, a little unusual. His brain operates at a different rate. It was like, “Oh, you are Godard.” And he had the jawline, he had everything. So each one was its own little fun project. And Zoey [Deutch, who plays Jean Seberg] I knew from 10 years ago [she starred in Linklater’s 2016 film Everybody Wants Some!!]. I was like [all those years ago], “Zoey, you’ve got to play Seberg.” Because I just looked at the contour of her face and jaw, and I was like, “You’re Seberg.” She was like, “Huh?” So I was so happy to be able to say [many years later], “Hey, Zoey, the movie’s happening! Get going on your French!”
A lot of people would visit the set — I mean, people who were as close as you could be to Godard, who worked with him — and they would hear Guillaume before they even saw him, and they were like, “Oh, it’s him! Oh, my God!” This one was like a séance. It was very moving. I’d never had this experience before and I probably won’t again because what we were doing was so specific historically. But, like, the Cahiers du Cinéma scene when they’re all together? My script supervisor came over to me with tears in her eyes and was like, “Why am I so emotional?” I go, “Me too.” I was sitting there like, “Wow, they’re all here. And they’re happy to be together. This was the great time in their life. It’s ’59. The future’s ahead of them. Cinema’s ahead of them. It’s being reinvented.”
Can you explain how, using the research that you’d gathered, you were actually able to make Nouvelle Vague look so much like a French New Wave film?
I was like, “We’re going to make it. It’s going to be a black-and-white French film, subtitled. And it’s going to feel like a Nouvelle Vague film, but not necessarily a Godard film.” I just wanted it to look of that period. There’s only one À Bout de Souffle and one Godard. The idea of jump cuts [which were omnipresent in Breathless]? Our film doesn’t have a lot of that. If you really study the films, it’s like, “Oh, yeah, they don’t have any money. They didn’t have cranes. No dollies. It’s handheld on a thing.” So it’s like, “Well, you shoot off balconies. That’s how you get above. You don’t have a crane doing a zoom.” “Oh, car mounts.” So it was just about using the same kind of tools and syntax that they used and achieve it however you can, the look and the feel and all that. It’s a miracle of a film [Breathless], the way he made it, everything about it, and I give a lot of credit to Belmondo and Seberg for that.
The tools of filmmaking had obviously evolved by the time you came on the scene, but I imagine that you acquired a pretty good understanding of what these guys were up against when you came on the scene in the early ’90s. You didn’t have any money to make Slacker, right?
Oh, hell no. I did a Super 8 feature before I did Slacker, but my corollary here was Slacker, the no-budget — or low-budget — first film I made working with a lot of people. Yeah, it was kind of tricky.
I was at the world premiere of Nouvelle Vague in Cannes, and the response in the Palais was awesome. Quentin [Tarantino] was there and flipping out about it, and everybody seemed to really respond to it. Then, just a few days later, you guys sold the film’s U.S. distribution rights to Netflix, which caused some people to freak out. They were offended that a film about cinema would end up with a streamer. What did you make of that reaction? And why did you go with Netflix?
It’s such a lame argument. I got this on Hit Man [which Netflix also distributed] too. It’s like [addressing those who raised objections], “Well, if you want to have a theatrical thing, then those distributors need to step up and commit.” They look at it and they’re like, “Oh, black-and-white? It ruins our TV deal. So we can only offer this.” I have French producers who were out a few million dollars. The other offers were kind of…whatever. But Netflix really liked it. They’re really passionate about it. Ted Sarandos loved the movie. What are you going to say? And it is going to be in theaters. So all the people lamenting that [it went to Netflix], just get in your car, go to a theater and watch it in a theater, please. It means a lot to me. It’ll mean a lot to you. Take your friends.
OK, quick question: when was the last time a black-and-white French film stayed in a U.S. theater for more than a week or two? The Artist? How many years ago was that? [14.] It’s been a while. You can’t really count on that. I’m not so puristy. There are going to be 35[mm] prints showing everywhere. You’re going to get your chance [to see it on a big screen]. So go do it. And the good thing about Netflix is that even when you can watch it on Netflix, it still can play in theaters [as is currently happening with KPop Demon Hunters], you know? If there’s a big audience, they’ll keep it in theaters.
Your film is eligible to be the French submission for the best international feature Oscar race. It would be uncommon, though certainly not unprecedented, for a country to enter a film made by someone from outside its borders. But at the same time, it seems to me that apart from you and Zoey, just about everything about it — the financing, the locations, the language, the cast and crew, and the subject matter — is French. What would it mean to you if France submitted it?
Oh, it’s such a French film. I’d be thrilled if France put it forward. It’s my love letter to France and to that cultural moment, and I think they accept it as such.
Obviously there has been tariffs-related turbulence in the global economy since Pres. Trump took office again, and he has even threatened a 100 percent tariff on films made outside of America. Do you think that could have any impact on Nouvelle Vague?
Is that still on? I remember there were grumblings about that during Cannes, but I always thought that was just one of his blustery moments. Has that been followed up on? I don’t think they’re going to do that. I haven’t heard anything.
Nouvelle Vague is not the only film you’re bringing to Telluride. There’s also Blue Moon, for which you and Ethan Hawke, with whom you collaborated on the Before trilogy and Boyhood, reunited for the first time in 10 years.
The two films are complementary in a weird sort of way. They’re both about artists. One [Nouvelle Vague] is about the beginning of an artistic career, and all the energy and optimism of that. And the other one [Blue Moon] is about the end of a career, which is more poignant, obviously. You can live through your own extinction, in a way, where you’re not allowed to make your art, or you feel the times passing you by. There’s something really sad about it. With a pro athlete, time retires you, and you know that. But an artist is never told, “You’re only going to have a 20-year career.” We all think we’re going to do it forever. Why wouldn’t we?
Well, except Quentin. What do you make of Quentin’s attitude about stopping after 10 films?
I’ve known Quentin a long time, obviously — 33 or 34 years — and we have never once talked about that. I know that’s put out there, and maybe I’ll ask him about it sometime, but I don’t really believe it. Quentin loves it.
You’ve implied that you plan to keep making films until they have to cart you away, right?
Yeah. I’m more in that mode. Even when I was just getting started, I saw myself as a much older filmmaker, making films that I still was passionate about. I’m inspired by the Hustons, Bressons and Altmans [who kept working well into old age]. Currently we have quite a few elderly filmmakers — people pushing 80 and above. There’s a ton of filmmakers in that category that are inspiring to me.
Well, if anyone doubts your intention to keep working, they don’t know about the adaptation of Merrily We Roll Along that you are making, which you’ve said is intended to take 20 years from start to finish. One of your collaborators on that, Paul Mescal, will also be in Telluride. Out of curiosity, how is that project coming along?
It’s chugging along. Material-wise, we’re one-third of the way through. Time-wise, we’re probably closer to a quarter of the way through. But it’s exhilarating. Every time we get back together and do it, it’s kind of like, “Woah.” It’s kind of wild. And I went from the set of 1959 New York [Merrily We Roll Along] to 1959 Paris [Nouvelle Vague]. We shoot Merrily in just a couple days, three days, and then, boom, I was in prep in Paris. I was in a 1959 state of mind.