Jacques Rivette

[Alan Smithee]

It's a bfd to cinephiles. I imagine if criterion put it out theyd get a decent amount of press with the headlines of, "criterion brings sixteen hour cult French new wave behemoth." Critics would do a reevaluation but know it's not a bfd to people who don't care about that sorta thing.

[Mathew2468]

I only think it'd do better because I hear people talk about it ten times more than the other two. That's how I gauge the popularity.

[rrenault]

And Noirot and Duelle are almost as damned as Out 1.

[justeleblanc]

I actually see films like DUELLE and MERRY GO ROUND having a better chance coming to Criterion via Eclipse in that decent 2K masters already exist for these films (or at least restorations do), and these titles don't seem to warrant a lot of special features (compared to say an epic like OUT 1). A three-film release of D/N/MGR called "The Abandoned Myth of Jacques Rivette" would make for a fantastic Eclipse line, and how much would it ultimately cost Criterion to release? Probably not too much at this point. And how many people would ultimately blind-buy an Eclipse box featuring rare films from a French New Wave director? Probably a decent number, no?

[oh yeah]

Yeah, I imagine Out 1 wouldn't be the first Rivette Criterion puts out... A Duelle/Noroit set would certainly be fantastic, though I think The Story of Marie and Julien would be the natural third title to go with that, as they form a loose trilogy, rather than Merry Go Round. Then again, I'm a bit biased seeing as Marie and Julien is my favorite Rivette picture.

[swo17]

The latest is that we're going to try to get [Out 1] done, and about seventy-five people on Facebook all agreed to buy 100 copies each. But really, we will get it done, even though it probably won't be our first Rivette...

[SpiderBaby]

Paris Belongs To Us seems most likely to be Criterion's first.

[zedz]

If Out 1 is such a BFD why is so much other Rivette unavailable with English subs and/or decent transfers?

People say this a lot, but I don't really see it. There are fourteen Rivette features (out of 22) available in good (with, what, one exception?) English-subtitled editions. Which is a much better strike rate than a lot of filmmakers. If you haven't picked them up that's hardly Rivette's or the DVD industry's fault

[Michael Kerpan]

There are fourteen Rivette features (out of 22) available in good (with, what, one exception?) English-subtitled editions. Which is a much better strike rate than a lot of filmmakers. If you haven't picked them up that's hardly Rivette's or the DVD industry's fault

Few of these are available in the US (and the UK ones won't play on US DVD/Blu Ray players). Criterion is (primarily) doing releases for the US market -- and I don't think there is a huge pent-up demand for Rivette here. (I wish there was).

[knives]

I think his reputation has been on the rise in the US lately actually. I've bumped into a lot of people lately who are aware of him with most having seen Celine and Julie go Boating. That's not even bringing up how Cinema Guild's release of his last film has likely brought some new attention to the man. The amount of fervor isn't at Truffaut levels, but he seems to be above Chabrol levels (sadly).

[SpiderBaby]

Paris Belongs To Us seems most likely to be Criterion's first.

And so it will: http://www.hulu.com/watch/348235/paris-nous-appartient" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[onedimension]

Has anyone seen this on the New Yorker site?

http://www.newyorkerfilms.com/Celine-an ... o-Boating-(1974" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)/3/102/

They did manage to put out 'Moses and Aaron' in December..

[feihong]

Um...it says coming to theaters and blu-ray Spring 2012 on the Celine and Julie page of that website? Could that really be for real?

[swo17]

That was first noticed last year. I'm not aware of any developments since then.

[feihong]

Ugh, that's grim.

[Jeff]

NY said on Facebook recently that the theatrical run would happen this summer.

[J Adams]

Celine is running at Film Forum in NYC later this year.

Regarding the assertion that 2/3 of his stuff is available, I would say that, with a few exceptions, what is missing is the best of the masterpieces. I like almost all his films but generally speaking his best work is the films through Love on the Ground. Gang of Four is quite good but I believe it has a bad transfer (maybe just the US DVD). Among more recent films, one of the best and by far the most fun is the sublime Haut Bas Fragile (which I believe is not available subtitled).

[Michael Kerpan]

Among more recent films, one of the best and by far the most fun is the sublime Haut Bas Fragile (which I believe is not available subtitled).

Still available on VHS (I think) for $89.95: http://www.cinemaparallel.com/CP.rivette.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; .

[Tommaso]

Gang of Four is quite good but I believe it has a bad transfer (maybe just the US DVD). Among more recent films, one of the best and by far the most fun is the sublime Haut Bas Fragile (which I believe is not available subtitled).

Absolutely agree on "Haut Bas Fragile", a wonderful and lighthearted quasi-musical. Indeed a shame that it's not available on subbed dvd. But the unsubbed French disc (in the massive 8-DVD set) is excellent, and so is the transfer of "La bande des quatre" in the same set. The German disc, while not bad, doesn't hold a candle to it, for instance.

[Jeff]

Celine and Julie Go Boating finally starts its Film Forum run May 4. I'm guessing it tours major cities over the summer with the Blu-ray coming by the end of this year.

[JonasEB]

David Ehrenstein reports that Rivette has Alzheimer's disease...

http://somecamerunning.typepad.com/some ... 83de04970d" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[knives]

That's terrible, no wonder why he chose to retire. In this case unfortunately the best we can hope for is an easy slip to death. I really don't want him to go full Falk before the end.

[Perkins Cobb]

I thought that was widely known, given the problems on his last film and the rumors that Sergio Castellito had a hand in completing it. Yeah, I heard maybe six months ago that the Alzheimer's had progressed rapidly and Rivette couldn't remember films, names, etc. Horrible -- he remains perhaps my favorite filmmaker, and it's heartbreaking that we'll get no more from him.

[Mathew2468]

That's a shame. I didn't know anything about the making of his last film, and I haven't seen it so I don't know if it's recognisably 'unfinished' (not what it was supposed to be), but I did notice the short runtime. Especially for him of course.

Apparently in the fifties he would always win at some kind of film quiz competitions they played; which makes this even sadder.

[Stefan Andersson]

A German R2 DVD release of Out 1 + Out 1 Spectre (Absolut Medien, absolutmedien.de) announced for October, up for preorder at Amazon according to Jonathan Rosenbaum´s invaluable online column Global Discoveries on DVD. Go here and scroll down:
http://cinema-scope.com/columns/global- ... now-about/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Said to be a 5-disc set with one hour of extras and extensive booklet. Rosenbaum makes a general remark about unsolved rights issues.