Two in the Wave

Two in the Wave (French: Deux de la Vague) is a French documentary directed by Emmanuel Laurent, made in 2009 and released in 2011. Through carefully assembled archival footage, it traces the once-close friendship and eventual rupture between François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, the two founding figures of the French New Wave. The film follows their early years writing for the Cahiers du cinéma and the sensational debuts of The 400 Blows and Breathless, which launched one of cinema's most influential movements. Between the two mentors stands actor Jean-Pierre Léaud, who as Antoine Doinel became the movement's emblematic face, appearing in Truffaut's romantic works as well as Godard's radical films, until he finally became a pawn in Godard's break with Truffaut. Written by Antoine de Baecque, the documentary pieces together this pivotal chapter of film history.