Reviews (4)

Superb
I am not sure what the person before me knows about French cinema and the history of this film in particular but before posting comments that border sheer ignorance PLEASE do some research. This true masterpiece of a film was shot in 1.33 and that is how La Belle Noiseuse it was shown during the Cannes film festival. This is the prefered original aspect ratio (perhaps some have forgotten that not all films are supposed to be seen in widescreen, many were shot in an academy ratio of 1.33). Though La Belle Noiseuse is a modern film, just like Godard often does, Rivette has chosen a ratio that fits best his vision.

With this said the length of the film has nothing to do with the artistic merits it conveys. This is a strong, utterly sophisticated, yet bold and original film that reaches the very core of the creative process artists go through. Exceptional work!!

A word before it's released
This is a 4-hour French film, and I have seen the VHS version. Although the film is generally criticized for being way too long and boring, I personally found the film very appealing. I enjoyed the slow pacing. The film definitely involves the viewer, and 4 hours later, you feel like you really know these characters, who now have a life of their own. There is a substantial amount of nudity in the film, but it's more about posing for an artist than about sex. This is, in fact, an art film, not a mainstream film. As such, it delves into human emotion as much as it paints the beauty of the female form. I'm giving this film, in advance of its DVD release, 3 stars because it is being released in standard format, which is an insult to any film, and because it may not appeal to the average mainstream viewer, who may be too impatient to watch all 4 hours of it. But for me, it will be a welcome addition to my limited collection of French films.

I absolutely agree with everything said by the 5-star reviewer (except for the statement about this being released in its orginal format, which is apparently erroneous). But having read contemporary French language critiques of this film, and having dicussed it with a few of my French friends (who mostly complained about its length), I still believe that the average mainstream non-French viewer will probably find the film a bit too long and boring. Fans of art film in general, and French films in particular, will definitely treasure it, though. Include me in.

See it any way you can...
La Belle Noiseuse is now available on DVD through Amazon.co.uk. Unfortunately it is transferred in 1.33:1 aspect ratio, which is falsely stated to be the original ratio, whereas in fact the film was shot and screened in 1.66:1 - while for some films this might be tolerable, here the cropped picture detracts woefully from the cinematic experience - profiles are severed, actors inexplicably move half off screen, the beauty of many tableaus is compromised. One can only hope that Criterion decide to provide an American edition. That said, the actually picture quality is good and the subtitles legible.
*
There is an interesting interview, however, with Rivette, in which he tells of Divertimento being edited together entirely from out-takes. To illustrate the point a dinner table scene is shown, first from La Belle Noiseuse, and then from Divertimento -in the first there are many cuts and changes of point of view, in the second a slow zoom in onto one couple and only a single cut. In a way, then, Divertimento is an entirely different film. Rivette explained the changes as in part stemming from a certain boredom attending the traditional editing process - he and his editor did their best to entertain themselves, and to create a significant variation on the original work of art.
*
As an exploration of the artistic process, and of the psychological danger involved in exploring the depths of another human, the film is wonderful. Of course, in terms of aesthetic beauty it is also hard to fault. Michel Piccoli is sensitive and somehow manages to vie for command of the screen against the charms of Emmanuelle Beart (who really is stunning).
*
This, I think, is by far Rivette's best work, and definitely worth viewing in whatever available format.

Only for hardcore "La Belle Noiseuse" fans (like me)
After receiving extraordinary acclaim for his 4-hour masterwork "La Belle Noiseuse", seminal French New Wave director Jacques Rivette edited it down to 2 hours (by jettisoning its long real-time takes of an artist at work), substituting alternate takes of certain scenes and making subtle but important changes in the scene order. The result is "Divertimento", a slightly darker and, in my opinion, substantially lesser work.

If you admire "La Belle Noiseuse" as much as I do, "Divertimento" will give you a thought-provoking but not revelatory new angle on a great film. If you haven't seen "La Belle Noiseuse" yet, don't cheat yourself by watching this one first. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Why hasn't Criterion taken notice?
This disjointed, sugary, and intriguing gem needs the Criterion treatment! I was lucky to see this rare one in a film series at a local museum. While not for the impatient spoon-fed Hollywood viewer, it slowly unravels the story of identity for both Celine and Julie. Once the viewer is acquainted with these two captivating ladies, there is another mystery to unravel... the story within the strange house. This one will have you talking long after the credits roll! Did you like Bunuel's "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie?" Or did you enjoy David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive?" Do you like films that make your brain sweat a little bit!? Well, come on and give this a try. If you have seen this, send an email to the folks at Criterion Co website and prod them (and yes, I have!) to make this wonderful film a "Criterion."

!
Halfway through CELINE AND JULIE GO BOATING my opening line for this review would have been something like this; "a drawn out, poorly photographed mish-mash of uninspired surrealistic images. However, gradually as the film drew me further into its unescapable web, I began to realize that the films images weren't uninspired, they were simply detached, in the logic of a dream. True to that statement, CELINE AND JULIE is the most realistic demonstration of a dream state I have ever witnessed. It is drawn out, but it's also meditative, not to mention fascinating, and strangely, as in dreams, realistic. Gradually you don't notice the irrationality, like a dream you simply feed off its aestheics. And as the "swiss cheese" plot begins to fill in, your excitment grows as you long for a better understanding. Now, Freuds will no doubt aply their psuedo-symbolism to a film such as CELINE AND JULIE, I myself find it to be a film about a search for inner childhood (notice the "haunted house" plot is the womens attempts to rescue a small girl). It is a film that demonstrates the way imagination gives our lives a needed purpose.

Unique and haunting
A long time ago ...touted this as the ultimate midnight movie, which gives you some idea of what a dreamy trip it is. The ending haunts me to this day, although you will have to be very patient to get to it. An exquisite treat for the avid film buff.

(Trivia note: one of the men in the house is film director Barbet Schroeder)

magical mystery tour
Jacques Rivette has always been a director of rather acquired taste but if you have an open mind and are willing to let the amazing imagery flow over you, seeing this film will literally be like stepping through the looking glass. It is as close to actual magic, not just illusions, as I've seen on the big screen. Despite its length, and this is true of most of Rivette's films, the film is enchanting and entertaining, puzzling but also audacious in its invention. It runs on dream logic and you need not crack it in order to enjoy it. The events flow forward, backward, sometimes repeating themselves as the characters appear to be caught in some bizarre web, reminding me of some of the later Bunuel films where they are trapped in an unending dinner party or go in search of food yet never accomplishing to eat it - but unlike Bunuel, Rivette's film is more of a play on itself than poking fun at the bourgeoisie, breaking down the nature of film (its reality, a la Philip K. Dick) and the art of cinema.

In any event, with perhaps the exception of "La Belle Noiseuse", a classic of more accessible and traditional nature, this film is the best way of entering Rivette's body of work. And if you just allow it, you'll be trapped within for good. It's a good place to be.

One of the best of all French films!
PLEASE lower the price.

Everyone should at least have access to this classic.

It is not as well known as it should be. It deserves better, and most important it deserves to be on my collection, so PLEASE lower the price.

And if there's any justice, CRITERION please take note. ... Read more

Description

Up Down Fragile is a luminously unique romantic musical set in summertime Paris.In beautiful sun drenched streets, cafes and parks three young lives intersect and are changed by an artist, a mystery, and a gun.Three of today's most talented young French actresses (Laurence Cote, Marianne Denicourt, Nathalie Richard) sing, dance and romance their way through Paris in this cinematic triumph directed by Jacques Rivette (La Belle Noiseuse", "Out 1", "Gang of Four") Up Down Fragile is a joyful burst of true cinema from one of the greatest French filmmakers of all time. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Challenge at every shot
This film was for me the coldest bucket of water I ever recieved in my face. Besides being a perfect performance in the classical and avant-garde point of view, it reaches a point hardly ever achieved in the story of cinema. Why? Because its intentions go beyond the screen and awakes the spectator thanks to the freshness of all its components (acting & dancing improvisation, subtle rythmic script, beautiful chansons, direction). The effect I mean is that the sense of real life (the unexpected, the fantasy, the inner trivial thoughts) created in this film was scarecely shared by other ones. Although it well fits in the Nouvelle Vague, where Rivette I consider to be one highest exponents (or the highest): to search endlessly the power of the camera to manipulate life or understand it. Rivette, in my opinion, created an antithesis of the hollywood film: break the stereotypes that blind us. He proposes us to see life as if is, half thoughts and fantasy and half the unexpected of the other one, tho whom we dedicate our life. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Freedom, where?
Anna Karina, Jacques Rivette's then wife, stars in this many tiered expose of social and religious norms in 18th century France. Anna Karina's striking beauty and smoldering sensuality are in full bloom and yet since she is an illegitimate daughter she is treated like a burden by her parents who want nothing more than to be rid of her. The convent is the easiest solution. And for Karina the convent is an especially cruel fate as she has grown up amid the most opulent surroundings. In the first scene of the film we see beautiful Karina being coerced into taking vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience. She rebels against the bizarre rituals she is being forced to take part in and is returned home but slowly she is coerced by both family and church to enter the convent. And the convent turns out to be just one long torture for her. Once there she is told she must surrender all individuality but the more they try and subdue her the more she fights back and since they can't convert her spirit she is soon being punished with more and more severe physical depravities. She applies to be released but the civil authorities fear doing anything that will upset the very powerful church authorities. Finally one sympathetic clergyman allows her to be transferred to another convent.

Convent #2 is absolutely a world apart from the first convent. In fact it looks like the 1960's in this new locale as all the nuns wear beads and dress each according to their taste and sit hand in hand singing songs. This new convent is as liberal and permissive as the other convent was strict and disciplinarian but Karina soon finds out that convent #2 has a few irregularities of its own--like night visits from a wanton mother superior. Karina's beauty seems to be her curse. Karina confides to the parish priest about her fears of the mother superior whose intentions she only partially understands and the prieswho knows full well the mother superiors inclinations helps her escape. Once free of the convents walls however the priest also tries to accost her. The religious institution failed her in every way and society proves just as unkind. She is soon taken under the wing of a nice woman who feeds her but that woman turns out to be a madame of a brothel and the last scenes of the film show Karina yet again forced to take part in yet another bizarre ritual.

A very powerful film which stays with you days after seeing it. I believe ultimately it is a story about how elusive a thing true freedom really is.

Studious Look at the Life of an Unwanted Woman
Though Jacques Rivette is equated with the French New Wave his films are not marked by the quick cuts and time shifts and collage quality of other New Wave directors. Rivettes style is slow and meticulous with very long takes. Some New Wave film makers emphasize spontaineity by speeding things up Rivette does just the opposite--he slows things down and the effect of his very long scenes is that you have time to think and focus on things much more intently, perhaps even meditatively.

The story is of Susan whose two older sisters have been married off. But Susan will not be married off because she was the product of a brief infidelity. Her presence is a constant reminder to her mother of that infidelity so she wants to be rid of her if only to clear her conscience. So Susan is coerced into becoming a nun. At first she refuses her vows but soon she sees no other way. Rivette painstakingly shows the inner torment this beautiful girl of 19 goes through as she is told she must vow to poverty, obedience and chastity for life. One understanding older nun helps her along but soon that only friend passes away and since Susan is not as docile as the others she is soon at odds with everyone in the convent. The Mother Superior tries to tame her with tortures and cruelties but Susans will is not broken. Finally her petitions to be transferred are accepted and she is off to convent number two. This second convent is idyllic, the sisters are much more liberal and much less severe, unfortunately for virtuous Susan its also a hotbed of sapphic activity. In the first convent Rivette showed us Susans rebellious side and in this new setting he shows us another side of her, her pure and innocent side. Rivette is studiously showing how conventions both social and religious shape people(or try to) and what blunt(and corrupt) instruments they prove to be especially when a true individual comes along and confronts them and refuses to be shaped by them.

Lastly there is Susans attempt to live in the outside world. But brought up in such cloistered surroundings and never having been given a proper education about the ways of the world and given the limited options available to women in 18th century France she is thoroughly unprepared, she remains an innocent though a thoroughly unique one to the end. The ending is abrupt. Rivette is never sentimental, he is matter of fact. He presents his scenes like facts and lets his viewers come to their own conclusion. Fascinatingly told story from a fascinating film maker.

poor susanne
i agree wholeheartedly with the previous reviewers comments. this is melodrama at its finest, with a slow confident pace that gradually builds tension up to a surprising twist and tragic finalle. however, i feel compelled to warn potential buyers - the quality of this transfer is quite poor. if you have seen any of the old "hen's tooth" releases of renais' films of the sixties (i.e. muriel), you will know what i mean - with that it mind i would recommend searching for a rental before making a purchase. but do check it out. it has a grace totally lacking in todays general hollywood fare, which makes it all the more shocking and admorable.

Astonishing!
Initially banned in France in the 60s, this film version of Diderot's shocking novel about a young woman forced into the nunnery is considered the most traditional of New Wave master Jacques Rivette's oeuvre. But it is compelling, visually beautiful and poignant. The film is greatly abetted by the superb performances of the sterling cast-- Micheline Presle as the kindly mother superior, Liselotte Pulver as a lesbian nun and Anna Karina, Godard's muse and then wife, in the title role. Karina's performance is unforgettable,making this film one of the important achievements in French cinema. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

At last! The best movie of 2001.
'Va Savoir' opens with a voice in the darkness asking for lights to be turned on a stage, and the entire film can be seen as a play or a celebration of play, of acting, role-playng, creating, stories, plots. the two lead characters are actors, and in their forking narratives, bring everyone they come in contact with into their theatrical orbit. Camille is the French lead actress with an Italian touring company who are performing Pirandello's 'As You Desire Me' (the story of the amnesiac mistress of a writer who treats her like one of his creations, filmed by Hollywood with Garbo (another Camille) and Stroheim) in Paris to general indifference. During her hours off, she seeks the lover she dumped three years previously, a sheepish philosophy professsor now living with a domineering ballet teacher.

her co-star and company director Ugo, whose precise relation to Camille we don't learn until near the end, spends his days searching for an unpublished, possibly apocryphal play by his 18th century compatriot Goldoni. this paper chase leads him to the beautiful student Do, whose mother's library may hold the key, and who is instantly smitten by the older man. her brother is used to pilfering valuable books to fund his gambling habit. these two plots, intercut with apparent crudeness early on, begin to interweave to comical, romantic and magical effect, distending its mysteries and crime narrative, collapsing into a farce of dizzyingly shifting relationships and a vertiginous mock duel. 'Va Savoir' creates an enchanted world that looks superficially like ours, but operates on completely alien principles.

Jacques Rivette is one of cinema's great fabulists, but he doesn't depend for his fantasy on special effects or the literally supernatural. Every scene, even the long excerpts from the play, are filmed with plausibility and an air-brushed realism. It is in plot development that Rivette's fantasy lies. having begun the film with rehearsals for a drama, Rivette proliferates confusions between reality and illusion. there isn't a single sequence in the entire film that doesn't have characters walking down corridors, streets or paths, or walking into rooms, but these everyday events are transformed, corridors become labyrinths or secret passageways, rooms become magic chambers or dungeons, rooftops the plains of undiscovered planets. People dreaming becoming creating authors, mirrors portals to another dimension. The emphasis is on characters seeking to affirm their identity, but continually transforming, metamorphosing, renegotiating. Allusions abound, as often distracting the viewer as enlightening the theme.

'Va Savoir' plays like 'Celine and Julie go boating' (Rivette's most famous film) updated, with the theatre as haunted house, caretakers Camille and Ugo releasing all kinds of ghosts from the past. it is also similar to Bergman movies like 'the Face' or 'Fanny and alexander', their plot-displaced climaxes extended over an entire film. If Rivette has decided to charm his audience rather than challenge it, it is somehow appropriate that in this age of infantile, no-attention-span cinema, the most adventurous, enjoyable and youthful film in years is made by a 73 year old.

"... as many pregnant pauses as bon mots"
Although billed as a romantic comedy, Jacques Rivettes' relatively terse 1990 film "Va Savoir" ("Who Knows?") focuses on the priority of obsession over romance. At a few critical junctures, the tension breaks and we are allowed a nervous laugh before it resumes.

I found the whole drama oddly compelling. This is much the same reaction as I had to "The Venus Beauty Institute". And "Va Savoir" is every bit as pointless. Its two and a half hour running time allows for as many pregnant pauses as bon mots. I neither liked nor understood any of the characters, who were alternatively morose and manic. Their introversion evokes the claustrophobic feeling of the staged play within a play, Luigi Pirandello's "As You Desire Me".

The plot involves an actress Camille (Jeanne Balibar), who is returning to her native Paris after three years in the Italian theatre company directed by her Italian lover Ugo (Sergio Castellitto). She becomes re-acquainted with her previous lover in Paris, a Heidegger-obsessed professor of philosophy (Jacques Bonaffe), who is living in their former apartment with an ex-con ballet-teaching feng-shui practicing lover Sonia (Marianne Basler). Meanwhile, Ugo seeks out a manuscript to a lost play, crossing the path of a literature student/ingenue Do (Helene de Fougerolles), in one of the the most photogenic libraries encountered since "A Name of the Rose". Do's mysterious, ladies man of a brother Arthur (Bruno Todeschini) becomes involved shortly thereafter. The rest of the movie sees the various characters face off alone (yes, they're all deeply conflicted, even with themselves), one on one, or in groups. All the loose ends are summarily tied up or discarded in a grand finale on stage, a contrivance on a par with the Marx Brothers' "Coconuts".

(Note: I watched this with English subtitles and I speak neither French nor Italian.)

My favorite movie of 2001
When I saw "Va Savoir" in theaters, I loved it so much that I stayed in my seat for the next showing (with the film's lethargic 154-min running time, that's around 5 hours or so) and I enjoyed every second of it. I just love the characters in this film. The way they talk, the dialogue, the situations and places they find themselves in, all of it magical. I do not understand people saying the film is enjoyable, but not heavy or a "major Rivette", which I wholeheartedly disagree with (I find this to be Rivette's best work since "La Belle Noiseuse"). I have seen the film around 6 or 7 times and have yet to tire of it. For anyone looking for a charming, intelligent, hugely entertaining, and romantic movie...this is it. Highly recommended.

VA GARBAGZE IS MORE LIKE IT
THIS MOVIE HAS ALL THE EXCITEMENT OF A FRONTAL LOBOTOMY.FRENCH NEW WAVE IS JUST ANOTHER TERM FOR UTTER GARBAGE. THIS MOVIE CAN BE USED TO HELP CURE SLEEP APNIA.

I agree.... so boring I had to turn it off...
Now I've seen quite a good share of foreign films. Maybe it is my ignorance on theatrical names and topics in the film, but I could not follow any of it. The characters were very dry and distant. It has a very disappointing ending and the plot is just very slow moving.

Not very highly recommended. ... Read more

Description

In this extraordinary, two-part historical epic, director Jacques Rivette (La belle Noiseuse, La Religieuse) presents a fresh, brilliant re-interpretation of one of the great historical figures of all time - Joan of Arc. Joan the Maid features a spectacular performance by Sandrine Bonnaire that the New York Times calls "unadorned but magnetic."

Joan the Maid offers an amazing portrayal of a simple young woman who is driven by her belief that she is destined to save France.Joan the Maid: The Battles follows Joan from her birth, through her response to inner voices, to triumphant early victories over the English. Joan the Maid: The Prisons continues with Joan and the Dauphin of France embarking on series of victories. But Joan is eventually captured and imprisoned. She is tried for sorcery, impurity, wearing men's clothing, and refusal to submit to English rule, then condemned as a heretic and burned at the stake. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Earnest and Authentic Bio of France's Heroine-Saint
This long 1993 French film sacrifices spectacle (and a star from my rating) in favor of an accurate and engaging character study of Joan of Arc (Jeanne la Pucelle). The low-budget look nullifies the impact of the battle sequences, alas, but apart from that this two-part movie (edited from the original six hours, also unfortunately) is convincing and shows commendable restraint. Unlike flashier, less historical depictions, it is free of bombast and invention and Sandrine Bonnaire's Joan is direct, pious, and believeable. The dialog is refreshingly free of awkward anachronisms and makes good use of Joan's own words as recorded by historians and court transcripts. The pacing could be snappier, and the edits are annoying to those of us who wanted to see the complete film, but this is a faithful and moving story that is mainly well-told. Note: the two copies that I have seen have BOTH had the labels reversed on the cassettes, so don't watch the second tape first!

Best Joan of Arc movie made to date
In the November 15th, 1999 issue of "The New Yorker," Joan Acocella called Rivette's "Joan the Maid" "the best Joan of Arc movie ever made." I couldn't agree with her more. It's also the most historically accurate. The scenes and dialogue are taken practically word for word from primary source accounts made by Joan of Arc's contemporaries. Unlike Hollywood's big-budget Joan of Arc epics, Rivette's film is modestly low-budget, but its simplicity makes it all the more charming. It focuses more on the character of this extraordinary 15th century young woman rather than on the big battle spectacles. As "Sight and Sound" magazine put it, "Rivette takes us not onto the stage of history but backstage -- to its green room." I found Sandrine Bonnaire's portrayal of Joan especially moving. Most portrayals of her fail what I call the essential "leadership test." (Would anyone follow Milla Jovovich's bug-eyed Joan of Arc into battle? We'd sooner put her in a padded cell.) However, Sandrine Bonnaire portrays an intelligent, confident young woman that anyone would follow. She charms the viewer as much as the real Joan charmed her countrymen. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Jacques Rivette's 1993 production is appropriately named: his Joan is no saint, but a girl sent to war by the voices in her head and driven by the confidence that she's doing God's work. Sandrine Bonnaire, the beautifully plain, hard-faced star of Vagabond, brings a rugged innocence and determination to the role. She was 26 at the time she made the film, hardly the historical teenager, but with her cropped pageboy hair and her body packed into shapeless fighting togs, she's a veritable medieval tomboy. The first of Rivette's two films about Joan charts her story from her first revelation through the Battle of Orleans, where the wisp of a girl is both the tough leader rubbing shoulders with foul-mouthed, hot-tempered career soldiers and the blubbering young woman who cries when hit with an arrow. Rivette's camera weaves through long takes with a gentle grace while his narrative leaps over the traditional highlights to focus on the scenes "between" (as he puts it), the privileged moments of conversation and preparation. Though it focuses solely on the wars, it lacks the excitement one might expect from a film called Joan the Maid: The Battles. In its place is an earthy recreation of 15th-century France and a beautiful character study of the young woman whose sincere convictions and innocent confidence inspire a country. Though originally 160 minutes, Rivette cut the film down to 112 minutes for release in Britain, and that's the version made available on video. Followed by Joan the Maid: The Prisons. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Amazon.com

The second of two films charting the ordeal of Joan of Arc, Jacques Rivette's Joan the Maid: The Prisons takes the teenage soldier from her greatest triumph to martyrdom. Having liberated Orleans, Joan accompanies the Dauphin to Rheims, where she observes his coronation--but her string of victories soon ends. Her voices and visions leave her, and behind-the-scenes diplomacy discourages her from continuing her campaign.Putting up a front of bravado and spirit, as much from fear as from determination to carry on the fight without divine guidance, she is soon captured, and the film concludes with her trial for heresy. Where Carl Dreyer, in his masterpiece The Trial of Joan of Arc, presents Joan as a tortured saint fairly glowing with the power of faith, Rivette portrays her as a spirited and feisty, flesh-and-blood girl--an uneducated woman driven only by her conviction that she did right. This film is bound to frustrate some viewers as it favors scenes of mundane details and small talk, and largely skips over the drama of the trial. Rivette cut his original French version by an hour for British release and the film suffers: Rivette's best work takes place in the expanse of time where character arises from the minutiae of detail. But even with the cuts this is a unique perspective on Joan, a version that favors the woman over the saint. The result is a study in faith and fortitude brought alive by Sandrine Bonnaire's sincere, tough, and vulnerable performance. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Freedom, where?
Anna Karina, Jacques Rivette's then wife, stars in this many tiered expose of social and religious norms in 18th century France. Anna Karina's striking beauty and smoldering sensuality are in full bloom and yet since she is an illegitimate daughter she is treated like a burden by her parents who want nothing more than to be rid of her. The convent is the easiest solution. And for Karina the convent is an especially cruel fate as she has grown up amid the most opulent surroundings. In the first scene of the film we see beautiful Karina being coerced into taking vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience. She rebels against the bizarre rituals she is being forced to take part in and is returned home but slowly she is coerced by both family and church to enter the convent. And the convent turns out to be just one long torture for her. Once there she is told she must surrender all individuality but the more they try and subdue her the more she fights back and since they can't convert her spirit she is soon being punished with more and more severe physical depravities. She applies to be released but the civil authorities fear doing anything that will upset the very powerful church authorities. Finally one sympathetic clergyman allows her to be transferred to another convent.

Convent #2 is absolutely a world apart from the first convent. In fact it looks like the 1960's in this new locale as all the nuns wear beads and dress each according to their taste and sit hand in hand singing songs. This new convent is as liberal and permissive as the other convent was strict and disciplinarian but Karina soon finds out that convent #2 has a few irregularities of its own--like night visits from a wanton mother superior. Karina's beauty seems to be her curse. Karina confides to the parish priest about her fears of the mother superior whose intentions she only partially understands and the prieswho knows full well the mother superiors inclinations helps her escape. Once free of the convents walls however the priest also tries to accost her. The religious institution failed her in every way and society proves just as unkind. She is soon taken under the wing of a nice woman who feeds her but that woman turns out to be a madame of a brothel and the last scenes of the film show Karina yet again forced to take part in yet another bizarre ritual.

A very powerful film which stays with you days after seeing it. I believe ultimately it is a story about how elusive a thing true freedom really is.

Studious Look at the Life of an Unwanted Woman
Though Jacques Rivette is equated with the French New Wave his films are not marked by the quick cuts and time shifts and collage quality of other New Wave directors. Rivettes style is slow and meticulous with very long takes. Some New Wave film makers emphasize spontaineity by speeding things up Rivette does just the opposite--he slows things down and the effect of his very long scenes is that you have time to think and focus on things much more intently, perhaps even meditatively.

The story is of Susan whose two older sisters have been married off. But Susan will not be married off because she was the product of a brief infidelity. Her presence is a constant reminder to her mother of that infidelity so she wants to be rid of her if only to clear her conscience. So Susan is coerced into becoming a nun. At first she refuses her vows but soon she sees no other way. Rivette painstakingly shows the inner torment this beautiful girl of 19 goes through as she is told she must vow to poverty, obedience and chastity for life. One understanding older nun helps her along but soon that only friend passes away and since Susan is not as docile as the others she is soon at odds with everyone in the convent. The Mother Superior tries to tame her with tortures and cruelties but Susans will is not broken. Finally her petitions to be transferred are accepted and she is off to convent number two. This second convent is idyllic, the sisters are much more liberal and much less severe, unfortunately for virtuous Susan its also a hotbed of sapphic activity. In the first convent Rivette showed us Susans rebellious side and in this new setting he shows us another side of her, her pure and innocent side. Rivette is studiously showing how conventions both social and religious shape people(or try to) and what blunt(and corrupt) instruments they prove to be especially when a true individual comes along and confronts them and refuses to be shaped by them.

Lastly there is Susans attempt to live in the outside world. But brought up in such cloistered surroundings and never having been given a proper education about the ways of the world and given the limited options available to women in 18th century France she is thoroughly unprepared, she remains an innocent though a thoroughly unique one to the end. The ending is abrupt. Rivette is never sentimental, he is matter of fact. He presents his scenes like facts and lets his viewers come to their own conclusion. Fascinatingly told story from a fascinating film maker.

poor susanne
i agree wholeheartedly with the previous reviewers comments. this is melodrama at its finest, with a slow confident pace that gradually builds tension up to a surprising twist and tragic finalle. however, i feel compelled to warn potential buyers - the quality of this transfer is quite poor. if you have seen any of the old "hen's tooth" releases of renais' films of the sixties (i.e. muriel), you will know what i mean - with that it mind i would recommend searching for a rental before making a purchase. but do check it out. it has a grace totally lacking in todays general hollywood fare, which makes it all the more shocking and admorable.

Astonishing!
Initially banned in France in the 60s, this film version of Diderot's shocking novel about a young woman forced into the nunnery is considered the most traditional of New Wave master Jacques Rivette's oeuvre. But it is compelling, visually beautiful and poignant. The film is greatly abetted by the superb performances of the sterling cast-- Micheline Presle as the kindly mother superior, Liselotte Pulver as a lesbian nun and Anna Karina, Godard's muse and then wife, in the title role. Karina's performance is unforgettable,making this film one of the important achievements in French cinema. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Not worth exploring
For many years I have struggled against the suspicion that Emmanuel Beart (sans habillement) is the reason 'La Belle Noiseuse' remains one of my favourite films; there was, after all, the lingering possibility that Jacques Rivette was in fact a genius. With this in mind I recently purchased two of his films on DVD, this and 'Gang of Four' - I'm afraid the money would have been better spent on a poster of Emmanuel.
*
Rivette has decided that 'Wuthering Heights' best be interpreted as the product of a childish imagination (not a very flattering assessment of Emily Bronte's powers). The actors here are very young and, unfortunately for mine, neither highly experienced nor talented, the male leads in particular being singularly hapless. The lighting is natural where possible and most of the film appears shot on location. The intention of all of this could be to render the story with a certain rawness, however this rawness is difficult to distinguish from amateurishness. Most damning is the incredible lack of emotion portrayed given the subject matter. It is as if the whole story is an invocation of an adolescent girl's dream, and as such filled with thin romantic whims rather than credible human reactions - this seems an underestimation of the original novel, of adolescent girls, and in any case makes for a very dull film.
*
Other aspects of the film contribute to the disappointment. Transporting the drama from the moors to the pleasant French countryside does little to deepen the mood; the music is quirky and unexpected, but it also feels arbitrary, and works against any coherent artistic vision; and this is probably the only time that the sound effects in a film drew attention to themselves - they are appalling, the crickets in the opening scenes sounding more like malfunctioning electrical transformers than insects. The DVD transfer is poor, picture and sound quality being marginal, and there are no extra features whatsoever, not even a decent printed precis.
*
Are there are any upsides to this? Well, Catherine is played by Fabienne Babe, a woeful actress but a beautiful woman - but I'm afraid that compensates little for what is a truly dreadful film. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Approach with caution
There appears to be a story behind the making of this film, however, I was and remain unfamiliar with it - Rivette seems to be making a political point about political machinations, cover-ups, and the jailing of innocents. This being a release from the mediocre crew at Image Entertainment, there are no onscreen extras and no printed essays to give the viewer any clue as to the exact intentions of Rivette. What is more (or less), the transfer is poor, with a grainy digital image and thin sound - given there are few close-ups, the bad image quality continually intrudes as the actors facial expressions are difficult to discern.
*
Rivette proposes an unusual scenario - an acting class for young women, taught by a reclusive but once celebrated actress - into this matriarchal nest sneaks a man, at once a liar, a manipulator, and some kind of organ of the state, possibly a policeman, possibly a less accountable agent. Gradually his schemes are revealed, and the action here is counterpointed by scenes from a play the acting students are rehearsing - or, to be more accurate, counterpoint seems to be the idea, but it made little palpable impact on me.
*
As most of the actresses are quite young, there is the feeling that you are viewing a student film, a first feature at any rate. Some scenes have a disarming naturalness, but others are forced, and those calling for strong emotion feel weak and artificial. And the technical aspects of the film, in particular set design and sound, are uniformly lacklustre. Rivette certainly disdains conventional cinematic methods, but it is unclear that his alternatives are worthwhile.
*
It is hard tor recommend this film, although it does seem something of a worthy failure - Rivette has distanced himself deliberately and effectively from Hollywood cliches, and he has extracted reasonable, if not outstanding, performances from his cast - I'm not sure if any of the leads have gone on to greater things (I think not), but it was interesting to see a very young Irene Jacob in a very minor role
*
Of the other Rivette films I've seen, 'Wuthering Heights' is incomparably worse (one of the worst adaptations of any novel I've ever seen), while 'La Belle Noiseuse' is incomparably better, definitely ranking in a personal 'Top Twenty' films of all time. ... Read more