Jacques Rivette

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soundchaser
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1251 Post by soundchaser » Sat Jul 27, 2019 12:40 am

Michael Kerpan wrote:
Fri Jul 26, 2019 1:53 pm
I wonder whether Up, Down, Fragile has _any_ connection with the previously-envisioned unwritten musical...
Frappat makes an argument in Secret compris that Laurence Cote’s Ida serves as the film’s phantom (“revenant”) in the same way the goddesses do in Duelle and Noroît, and Marie does in her eponymous film. I’m not totally convinced, but it’s an argument nonetheless...

Rivette sort of undermines that claim in Wiles’s monograph — he makes it clear that the film’s story came largely from its three actresses, because he had the money and opportunity to make a film but no ideas other than that it should be a musical.

I think the missing musical probably didn’t get any further than the barest concept stage, but it’s easy to imagine it would have been tonally similar to HBF, even if it would have featured a totally different plot.

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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1252 Post by quim_font » Thu Aug 08, 2019 6:13 pm

Can anyone recommend me a place to watch Celine and Julie Go Boating? Is the BFI DVD my only option?

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soundchaser
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1253 Post by soundchaser » Thu Aug 08, 2019 6:21 pm

The only place it's streaming is the BFI's proprietary platform, which I'm pretty sure is inaccessible in the US. But the BFI Blu-Ray can be had from a third-party Amazon seller for around $10, if you're Region B capable. The US rights, as far as we know, are still held by New Yorker (maybe? are they even a company any more?)

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swo17
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1254 Post by swo17 » Thu Aug 08, 2019 6:24 pm

Only ever released in the U.S. on VHS!

quim_font
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1255 Post by quim_font » Thu Aug 08, 2019 6:28 pm

soundchaser wrote:
Thu Aug 08, 2019 6:21 pm
The only place it's streaming is the BFI's proprietary platform, which I'm pretty sure is inaccessible in the US. But the BFI Blu-Ray can be had from a third-party Amazon seller for around $10, if you're Region B capable. The US rights, as far as we know, are still held by New Yorker (maybe? are they even a company any more?)
swo17 wrote:
Thu Aug 08, 2019 6:24 pm
Only ever released in the U.S. on VHS!
Thanks, that was my understanding as well. A scandal, if you ask me.

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HinkyDinkyTruesmith
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1256 Post by HinkyDinkyTruesmith » Thu Aug 08, 2019 7:16 pm

quim_font wrote:
Thu Aug 08, 2019 6:13 pm
Can anyone recommend me a place to watch Celine and Julie Go Boating? Is the BFI DVD my only option?
If you PM me I might be able to help.

For what it's worth though, I just picked up the BFI blu-ray, and it looks magnificent. I first watched Celine on the subtitle-less French DVD after years of looking, using an extra monitor for subs, and then caught it on 16mm at the Quad in January––and so it's quite great to me to be able to have such a lovely looking print on hand whenever I want it.

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Tommaso
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1257 Post by Tommaso » Fri Oct 04, 2019 2:00 pm

From another thread, but just to warn everyone interested:
domino harvey wrote:
Fri Oct 04, 2019 9:17 am
Props where they’re due, Pro-B is on the right side of the French color grading trend
Unbelievable. So they f'd up the single Rivette title (apart from "L'amour fou") that hasn't yet been available in a decent home video release (the Artificial Eye is a disaster) and to which I've been looking forward to more than any other film this year. Goddamn!

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jsteffe
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1258 Post by jsteffe » Fri Oct 04, 2019 2:20 pm

Yeah, that trailer doesn't look like *any* film print I've seen in the theaters in my lifetime. God knows what package of cool-looking LUTs they applied. It looks much more like the TV show DARK on Netflix or some other recent production. That being said, it's not any worse than what happened to Death in Venice or Je t'aime, je taime.

Pro-B is right on this:
The damage that European labs have done to classic European cinema is immeasurable now.
History will not be kind.

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bearcuborg
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1259 Post by bearcuborg » Fri Oct 04, 2019 2:25 pm

Tommaso wrote:
Fri Oct 04, 2019 2:00 pm
From another thread, but just to warn everyone interested:
domino harvey wrote:
Fri Oct 04, 2019 9:17 am
Props where they’re due, Pro-B is on the right side of the French color grading trend
Unbelievable. So they f'd up the single Rivette title (apart from "L'amour fou") that hasn't yet been available in a decent home video release (the Artificial Eye is a disaster) and to which I've been looking forward to more than any other film this year. Goddamn!
Wait, does Up Down Fragile have a decent release I don’t know about yet? I’ve been holding onto my VHS copy...

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Tommaso
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1260 Post by Tommaso » Fri Oct 04, 2019 2:28 pm

My only hope is that Arrow or a similar label releases it in the UK and corrects it (like they did with "Tree of Wooden Clogs", which I found completely terrible in its CC version). But that rescue work was an exception rather than the rule, I guess...

And yes, "Haut-Bas-Fragile" has a quite fine dvd transfer on the old 8-disc French arte set. No subs, though (but these can be found on the web...)

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domino harvey
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1261 Post by domino harvey » Fri Oct 04, 2019 2:31 pm

It's forthcoming from Cohen on the same licensing deal as this, I believe, so prepare thyselves

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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1262 Post by Glowingwabbit » Fri Oct 04, 2019 2:55 pm

I guess because I haven't seen the film before I thought the trailer looked good and will still be picking it up. This seems to be the case with a lot of these restorations of films I haven't seen or where my memory of it has faded a bit (for instance, Criterion's An Autumn Afternoon is unwatchable to me since I had seen it so many times without the tinting, but a lot of the Resnais and Rivette films I'm only seeing for the first time so the tinting seems ok even if it isn't correct).

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Tommaso
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1263 Post by Tommaso » Fri Oct 04, 2019 3:53 pm

The problem with the 'tinting' (great use of this term normally reserved for silent movies, btw!) is that it is now so ubiquitous that I can't even stand it when it is actually intentional, such as with Benedek Fliegauf's "Womb" which I watched a few days ago ( a seemingly controversial film which doesn't seem to have been discussed here, surprisingly, and which I found quite impressive). It actually makes sense in the case of that particular film, but everytime I see that teal look now I think something simply must be wrong with the transfer.

In a way, I'm really glad that "L'amour fou" is a black-and-white film so they can't mess that one up when it finally sees the light of day (unless it comes from Criterion and they do their blackness boosting.... well, I guess it will come from some other label, though....)

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1264 Post by Michael Kerpan » Tue Oct 15, 2019 9:37 pm

The trailer for Joan looks much better than any prior home video release. Totally unlike the recent disastrous version of The Nun.

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Petty Bourgeoisie
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1265 Post by Petty Bourgeoisie » Sat Oct 26, 2019 9:02 pm

Joan the Maid is set for December 3rd from Cohen. Remember, Cohen only does a small first release of Blu Ray's and that's it. Although I do see that Cohen did another run of La Belle Noiseuse thank goodness.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YM ... uage=en_US

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Petty Bourgeoisie
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1266 Post by Petty Bourgeoisie » Mon Jan 27, 2020 4:11 am

I ordered used DVDs of Secret Defense and Love On The Ground. I've never seen them and life is just too short to keep waiting for the restorations. Also, it's likely that when they are released a sickly green tint will be present.

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barryconvex
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1267 Post by barryconvex » Mon Feb 03, 2020 2:31 am

Sounds like a good idea. I too have wasted countless months waiting on a certain film's real or imagined upgrade when perfectly serviceable (and cheap) dvd options are right there for the taking. Those are both great films you bought and both dvds look fine iirc.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1268 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Apr 09, 2020 11:04 pm

I don't know how I missed the existence of Up, Down, Fragile for so long especially after going through a heavy Rivette phase years ago, but thank god for uncovering crystals, as this is one of his very best films and a lovely exploration of adventure as an internal process through external movement. It plays a bit like Pynchon’s V. in initial design though instead of just a detached fleeting human yo-yo and a meticulously obsessed investigator, searching too hard for- or totally clouded from- meaning, we get a middle character in Marianne Denicourt casually looking around seeking connection, present-minded but still revolving around a moral core- though searching for an identity post-coma. The themes orbit around Booker's dialectical three, or Goldilocks principle, where each character is stretched a bit off balance in one direction, but each moves closer to a relative equilibrium through self-discovery and peripheral awareness in repetitive engagement with the world. Their respective placements on the scale of introversion to extroversion helps demonstrate Rivette’s interest in the splicing of the feelings of loneliness with connectedness, isolation and participation. There is a romanticism leaking everywhere even in the reserved meaning-seeker who has moments of kittenish relief when alone, but ultimately is anchored by her own baggage from the self-actualization that allows for an explosive freedom in song and dance.

The musical aspects are relaxed and composed to emit a natural restrained feel, but in the way Rivette often finds the magical crevices in the typically banal. I loved this film from Nathalie Richard’s first dance that breathed vibrant energy into the atmosphere and never let up its intriguing and lighthearted flow. There is a kinship to Celine and Julie Go Boating here but more expansive in tonal range, finding the perfect blend of frivolous playfulness and passionate philosophical drama. The card game summarizes Rivette's take on existence better than maybe any other in his films; the contradiction of fate via chance of a literal hand of cards mixed with the weight of human agency to realise that fate, fusing free will, fate, and chance together in a game mimicking life’s own complex conundrums. Rivette's signature anti-paranoia is more inhibited as is typical for his later work, where instead of being flooded with abrasive reactions to answers to mystery that elicit disconnect, insignificance, and disappointment, characters cope by acknowledging the emotional frustration or philosophical stress and channel this acceptance towards resilience, confidence, and gratitude for the other side of meaning rather than retreating to fear, ennui, or nihilism. There is an optimism in the anti-paranoia that was once either taken as objective existential absurdism or frantic confusion, and this mature growth is right in line with the vibes of a musical, declaring that "everything is real" on its own terms. Anna Karina popping up to sing a song or two doesn’t hurt.

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soundchaser
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1269 Post by soundchaser » Fri Apr 10, 2020 2:38 am

I might be exaggerating here, but I think this is the musical that best understands what it is to *be* a musical — in terms of necessity of movement, framing, and subject matter. The way Rivette teaches us from the first scene how his characters move and what that motion means is almost unreal, and then he takes that and says “ok, now that you understand what character movement means, here’s what camera movement means.”

I’ll never forget the first time I saw the film, and I found myself able to predict a musical number because of these subconscious rules. It’s genuinely one of the most magical experiences I’ve ever had, and I’m thrilled you were charmed by it, TWBB. I’d love to show it to folks who don’t know it’s a musical, because the buildup to that first number and then the explosion of filmic joy is...*chef’s kiss*

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domino harvey
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1270 Post by domino harvey » Fri Apr 10, 2020 2:42 am

You’re exaggerating. But it is a good movie! Here’s my writeup from the Musicals thread:
domino harvey wrote:
Fri Jul 20, 2018 12:37 am
Image

Haut bas fragile (Jacques Rivette 1995)
A coma victim recovers and uncovers, a thief steals and dances with wild abandon, and a librarian seeks a song she’s sure connects with her unknown birth mother, among other adventures. Oh, and after about an hour into this three hour movie, we occasionally get musical numbers. Here Rivette truly surprised me: of all the French directors in this write-up, he’s the least-flashy and thus the one I least expected to understand and show how movement works in a musical. But he gets it, so clearly and without it ever interrupting his other goals here. For once, invoking a classic musical as inspiration (here Give a Girl a Break and I Love Melvin) yields actual on-screen evidence of someone having seen and processed their inspiration. A folding chair, an errant sander, a gazebo, patio furniture: zero-frills props, and yet Rivette figures out how to use them and film with/within them in long takes dedicated to kinetic interactions of bodies to each other and the chosen close-quarter prop. The only bad thing about these numbers is that we only get four of them and all together they probably run less than ten minutes within a three hour film. The remainder of the movie is enjoyable in the lazy way the best of Rivette can pull off. And not one fucking actor participates in an acting workshop the entire time. How nice to be reminded again that I can like Rivette. Recommended.

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1271 Post by Michael Kerpan » Fri Apr 10, 2020 1:54 pm

I keep waiting for a subbed home video release of HBF.... (still must rely on the unsubbed Arte DVD).

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senseabove
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1272 Post by senseabove » Fri Apr 10, 2020 2:01 pm

IIRC it's among the bundle of Rivette titles that Cohen is taking their sweet damn time releasing...

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domino harvey
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1273 Post by domino harvey » Fri Apr 10, 2020 2:45 pm

It is, though Cohen just put out the two Jeanne d’Arc movies so they are making progress through the backlog

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1274 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri Apr 10, 2020 3:18 pm

soundchaser wrote:
Fri Apr 10, 2020 2:38 am
I might be exaggerating here, but I think this is the musical that best understands what it is to *be* a musical — in terms of necessity of movement, framing, and subject matter. The way Rivette teaches us from the first scene how his characters move and what that motion means is almost unreal, and then he takes that and says “ok, now that you understand what character movement means, here’s what camera movement means.”
I get what you’re saying but I think if I were to get hyperbolic I’d say this would apply more to a philosophically, rather than physically, constructionist lens. While Rivette is a very spatially aware filmmaker and clearly enjoys capturing the freedom of bodily expression and tangible movement, I’m more interested in how this skill is linked to one’s harmony between their internal isolating struggles and the possibility of the outside world. I just read Rosenbaum’s analysis which expressed my thoughts better than I could on how the ability to participate in a musical stems from romanticism, which is only possible through that relationship between the self and their milieu. I don’t think that specific dissection of what a musical means has been done as well before, but to your point it absolutely hinges on Rivette’s mastery over space and experimental authenticity of character. This isn’t the first time he’s allowed actresses to form their own roles but here it lends a very particular ingredient to accessing that relaxed autonomy that yields empowered vulnerability in musical performance.

This also explains why Laurence Côte’s character feels left out, who - with only one watch under my belt - feels like a peculiar outlier of a character. Her purpose appears to function as a recognition of the polar position mirroring the other girls; one of self-inflicted barriers to participating in the ‘musical’ romanticism of life, which requires shedding of rigid control (and literally so in dance, loosening up body posture, getting out of one’s head, and going with the flow).

However, one of my favorite parts of the film is when she looks at herself alone in the mirror declaring “behind me there is nothing, as if I had no past” before breaking into quiet song about having no ties or connections to her world. The strange aspect is that she is at her most playful in this scene, flaunting herself around her apartment wrapping herself in scarves and she seems almost liberated by this lack, as if it’s a source of freedom. Does the fact that she sings to herself without accompanying music signify that she is holding herself back from participating in the fantastical aspects of the musical? Or does she have more confidence than we give her credit for? Rivette seems to be deliberately subverting the expectation to delve further here, and if she is intended to be the reciprocal yang to the yin of that whimsical surrender, what of the ending?
SpoilerShow
The films ends on her, after boarding up with Karina (who may be her mother?), walking down the sidewalk away from the camera and then breaking into a run. Is she still narrowly searching, walking away from the camera to signify a refusal to participate in these connective games, and running away determined to her next step and without casually soaking up the journey of the walk/life? Or is it the opposite- is she going to find what she’s looking for out there in another story, another film, and is she running towards it with confidence and courage to finally meet the world?
Marianne Denicourt’s number in the park is sublime but something about the spontaneous cute rumba between her and Nathalie Richard up the staircase makes me so happy. Their spirited repartee banter about the man that connects them, and bubble-thought topics like what human meat tastes like, are everything that is promised by Celine and Julie only too brief. I could have watched three hours of only their silly and sweet bond and the film would be just as great.

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senseabove
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Re: Jacques Rivette

#1275 Post by senseabove » Fri Apr 10, 2020 3:34 pm

Which is only two releases in the three and a half years since the deal was announced in October 2016, with a commentary as the only new extra produced for either release (and nothing at all for Joan).

It looks like that 10-film count counts three shorts and each part of Joan as separate (and it's unclear whether Divertimento is included and they just opted to not release it...), so assuming the shorts get a standalone release together, at that rate, I look forward to their last Rivette title being released in... 2030.

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