#jacques rivette

La Belle Noiseuse | Directed by Jacques Rivette | Cinematography William Lubtchansky

Paris belongs to the French, which is one of the problems Francophobes have with it. And there’s much for them to find problems with in Jacques Rivette’s first feature, one of the key works of the French New Wave. I found myself squirming at the gallery of poseurs at the party near the beginning of the film, before I realized that the film is a critique of poseurs: Everyone plays a role, and everyone tries to bend the narrative in their direction. The narrative of Paris Belongs to Us is a deconstruction of the political paranoia thriller: Its characters are caught up on a vast international right-wing conspiracy that may or may not exist. The idea that it does exist seems to be supported by the fact that several of its characters are exiles from Franco’s Spain and Joe McCarthy’s America, and some of them end up dead. Contrariwise, the idea that it exists only in the minds of the characters seems to be supported by the fact that none of these anxious artists and intellectuals ever manage to accomplish anything: They’re paralyzed by their own paranoia and egotism, or rather, like the Red Queen, they’re running fast to stay in the same place. Rivette admired Lewis Carroll, so we can see his protagonist, Anne Goupil (Betty Schneider), as Alice in the Parisian pays des merveilles. She falls into the chaos of a production of Shakespeare’s Pericles, a mess of a play that he probably wrote only half of, directed by Gérard Lenz (Giani Esposito), who is somehow ensnared in the political mesh that claimed the life of a composer named Juan, who had recorded a guitar piece as accompaniment for the production. But after his suicide (if it was one) the tape has disappeared. Anne takes on the job of finding it, which leads her deeper into the mess and into encounters with more strange characters. In the conclusion, nothing is concluded except the lives of several people, and the viewers are left wondering, “What was all that about?” Which is exactly what Rivette wants them to wonder. The film is like life: full of loose ends.

La Belle Noiseuse, Jacques Rivette, 1991

La Belle Noiseuse | Directed by Jacques Rivette | Cinematography: William Lubtchansky

Paris Belongs to Us (1961), dir. Jacques Rivette

Celine and Julie Go Boating, Jacques Rivette, 1974

Study of a Reclining Nude by Isidore Pils, c. 1841