Richard Linklater on His Two New Films, “Blue Moon” and “Nouvelle Vague”

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

News, David, Books, Arts, Storytelling, Wnyc, New, Remnick, News Commentary, Yorker, Politics

4.2 • 5.5K Ratings

🗓️ 21 October 2025

⏱️ 21 minutes

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Summary

The director talks with Justin Chang about his latest work on artistic genius. One dramatizes the decline of Lorenz Hart; the other details the triumphant début of Jean-Luc Godard.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is The New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.
0:11.9	This is The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick.
0:15.9	Richard Linklater is one of the most admired directors working in film today.
0:20.2	But moviegoers may like him for very different things.
0:24.0	You might love the stonerish early comedies set in Austin, Slacker, and dazed and confused,
0:29.8	or the romance trilogy that started with Before Sunrise, starring Ethan Hawk and Julie Delpy.
0:35.5	And then there are crowd pleasers like School of Rock
0:38.0	and the more recent hitman.
0:40.4	Boyhood, a coming of age story,
0:41.8	was filmed over a 12-year period.
0:44.6	This month, Richard Linklater
0:45.8	has two new films coming out almost simultaneously,
0:49.0	which is pretty unusual for Hollywood.
0:51.1	Our film critic, Justin Chang,
0:53.1	wrote about both in The New Yorker.
0:58.0	I think that there is a kind of casual mastery that he's achieved, and I think it's on display
1:05.7	in these two movies in Blue Moon.
1:07.9	We have to celebrate. This is the greatest musical in the history of American theater.
1:12.6	No, no, I'm not drinking with you, Larry.
1:14.6	And Nouveau Vaugh.
1:16.6	The new Vogue.
1:17.6	The one is true foe.
	...

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