Richard Linklater talks about his new films “Blue Moon” and “Nouvelle Vague”

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Richard Linklater is one of the most admired directors today, yet moviegoers may admire him for very different things. There are early comedies like “Slacker” and “Dazed and Confused”; There’s the romantic trilogy that began with “Before Sunrise,” starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy; and “crowd pleasers” like “School of Rock” and “Hit Man”. Linklater’s Boyhood, a coming-of-age story set over twelve years in which the protagonist grows from a child to a young adult, is almost unprecedented. This month, Linklater has two new films being released almost simultaneously, both of which depict landmark moments in the lives of creative geniuses. In “Blue Moon,” Hawke plays Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart at the moment when his career is overtaking rival Oscar Hammerstein II. “My motto for this film is they won’t use it on any posters, but it’s my motto: ‘Forgotten, but not gone,'” Linklater tells film critic Justin Chang. “It’s very heartbreaking… to make a film about the end of someone’s career.” In Nouvelle Vague, which is almost entirely in French, Linklater captures Jean-Luc Godard’s unconventional filmography. Breathless, his triumphant debut in 1959. “The most important movie is the one you make in your head,” says Linklater.

Justin Chang’s article on Richard Linklater was published on September 27, 2025.

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