Blue Moon (2025) ****

 

 

Richard Linklater is having a good year, film-wise. "Nouvelle Vague" was outstanding, and now there is this, “Blue Moon,” about a night in the life of songwriter Lorentz Hart.

In an Oscar-nominated performance, Ethan Hawke plays Hart, famous for writing musicals with composer Richard Rodgers in the 1920's and 30's. The Rodgers name, of course, is a bit more famous when paired with that of Oscar Hammerstein II. Rodgers and Hammerstein achieved great success with “Oklahoma!” and went on to become a household name, while Hart's career faded, in part due to his alcoholism, although he and Rodgers did collaborate again before Hart's death.

“Blue Moon” depicts Hart on opening night of “Oklahoma!”, a triumphant night for Rodgers and Hammerstein, and a bittersweet one for Hart. Hanging out at the bar of the restaurant where the “Oklahoma!” after-party will later take place, Hart holds court with the bartender (Bobby Cannavale) and the piano player (Jonah Lees). He regales them with his scathing opinions on “Oklahoma!”, but he mostly talks about a young college student with whom he is infatuated. Elizabeth (Margaret Qualley) is coming to the party later, and Hart intends to do two things: 1) overcome his bitterness to be gracious to Rodgers and Hammerstein, and 2) seduce Elizabeth.

Hawke deserves his Oscar nomination for this role, although I think the movie is probably too obscure for him to hope to win. He appears in every second of the film, and his depiction of a talented artist struggling with sour grapes, puppy love, and addiction is just devastating. He benefits from a strong supporting cast, especially Cannavale, whose world-weary bartender does his best to steer his friend Hart clear of the whiskey and bitterness. This is ultimately Hawke's movie, though, and he is brilliant in it.

This is one of those Oscar-nominated films that even most Oscars viewers will probably not have seen, and in truth it is not for everyone. It's an artsy, talky movie about a night in the life of a songwriter most people now, 100 years later, haven't heard of. It's really worth watching, though, if you like the kind of talky movies that Richard Linklater makes. You don't need to be familiar with the music. The piano player regales us with a few of Hart's classics to get us oriented. (It probably does help to know that E.B. White, who is quietly hanging out in the bar, is the famous author of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little.) You don't need to know about Hart's career, as he fills us in as we go. Ethan Hawke's heartbreaking performance is spellbinding as his Hart dances the line between delusion and despair, bravery and resignation.

4 stars out of 5

Nouvelle Vague (2025) ****

 

The elevator pitch for this film is enchanting and audacious: To tell the story of the making of one of the iconic French New Wave films using the style of the French New Wave. It makes sense that something like this would come from Richard Linklater, a quirky, independent director who owes so much to the avant garde directors of the New Wave.

It would be boorish of me to try to expound on the history of New Wave cinema. Much has been written on the subject, by people much more knowledgeable than myself. One thing I do notice, the more I read on it, is that, much like Punk music (or Grunge, for that matter), New Wave did not spring up out of nothing. New Wave directors were inspired by Italian and American directors; they inspired many followers; and it is hard to define exactly what counts as New Wave and what does not. There is no question, however, that Jean Luc Godard's film "A Bout de Souffle" (“Breathless” in the English-speaking world) falls smack in the middle of the New Wave movement. Shot guerilla-style, on a minimal budget, the film is black-and-white, full of jump cuts and surreal scenes of the characters just doing things like hanging out in a hotel room, making faces. To the extent there is a narrative, it's about a girl (Jean Seaberg) and a criminal (Jean-Paul Belmondo). It is brilliant in many ways, and also confounding. Like many art films, the movie can feel more like a sketch than a fully realized work. Despite its challenges, it is must-see viewing for any cinephile, and there is absolutely no point in watching Linklater's “Nouvelle Vague” without first seeing “Breathless.”

“Nouvelle Vague” is shot, like its inspiration, in black-and-white, in French, and with a playful style that still manages (better than”Breathless”) to get across a cohesive narrative. That narrative depicts Jean Luc Godard hanging with his fellow film critics at the magazine Cahiers du Cinema, determined to graduate from film critic to film-maker. He secures limited funding and then secures a star in American actress Jean Seaberg (portrayed here by Zoey Deutch). Saving money everywhere he can, Godard shoots his scenes in friends' apartments and sans permit on the streets of Paris.

I got it in my head that “Nouvelle Vague” had an Oscar nomination, but it does not, although it did garner a Golden Globe nomination. I guess the movie is a bit too obscure for the Academy. It's in French, but it is an American film by an American director, so it wouldn't qualify for a Best Foreign Film slot. Really, this is an obscure little film about the making of a foreign film from 65 years ago. It's hard to imagine this finding a large audience, which is why it essentially went straight from the Cannes Film Festival to Netflix (after only a 2 week theatrical release),where people who like this sort of thing can enjoy it at our leisure. I hope that cinephiles will find the film. This kind of thing is what we need more of – experimentation, playfulness, and a willingness to take chances.

4 stars out of 5