Jacques Rivette

[Michael Kerpan]

I wouldn't say that the three you mention are any more Paris (and/or time) specific) than the other Paris-connected films (like Gang of Four or Va savoir). Pont du Nord is my favorite Rivette film (FWIW).

[All the Best People]

I'd be interested to read why it's your favorite.

[Michael Kerpan]

Why do I love PdN so much? One, the interplay between mother and daughter playing not-quite-compatible, chance-met, temporary comrades. Two, the exploration of out-of-the-way (now probably mostly vanished forever) corners of Paris. Three, the pacing. Four, everything else. I first saw this (and long knew it) only in unsubbed form -- and even bought a multi-standard VHS player to play this and a few other otherwise-unfindable, but must-see (for me) films. It also helped that I had a crush on Bulle Ogier ever since I saw her in Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (when this first came to the theaters in the US).

[nolanoe]

Pont du Nord is my favorite too. It connects all his usual elements - his interest in the occult, critique of extreme leftwing politics, love of Paris, two women creating a game from scratch, intriguing conspiracies - and weaves it into a wonderfully tight package. I wish the film would go on for another two hours.

[spoon99]

Recommendations for books about Rivette, please. There aren't many.

Mary M. Wiles' book was a disappointment, since she spends most of the time talking about Rivette's influences, rather than the films themselves.

Morrey and Smith's book is much better, with interesting analyses of how he structures his narratives, and the role that games, chance, and conspiracy theories play in them. I just wish it didn't so often descend into academic nonsense, like "it is precisely the nexus between performance and non-performance that allows Rivette to . . ."

I've heard good things about "Jacques Rivette, secret compris." Is it worth a read?

[All the Best People]

Recommendations for books about Rivette, please. There aren't many.

Mary M. Wiles' book was a disappointment, since she spends most of the time talking about Rivette's influences, rather than the films themselves.

Morrey and Smith's book is much better, with interesting analyses of how he structures his narratives, and the role that games, chance, and conspiracy theories play in them. I just wish it didn't so often descend into academic nonsense, like "it is precisely the nexus between performance and non-performance that allows Rivette to . . ."

I've heard good things about "Jacques Rivette, secret compris." Is it worth a read?

I don't believe Secret Compris has been translated to English, which is too bad as it sounds the most intriguing. I have both the Wiles and Morrey/Smith and have been working through them in fits and starts -- the organization of the Morrey/Smith makes it a bit tough if you have gaps i his filmography, which many of us do, given the inconsistent availability of some of Rivette's films, and the over-academic language you reference can be a bit of a drag.

The Rosenbaum-edited Rivette: Texts and Interviews is available as a PDF online, and a nice resource, though I believe the bulk of it is now available online from other sources (such as jacques-rivette.com).

[nowhereisaplace]

Secret Compris is indeed very good. In terms of pure information, particularly about Rivette's early years at Cahiers, it is the best by far. It also has some great testimony from old colleagues from the Cahiers crew, like Charles Bitsch, who I believe visited Rivet in Rouen when he was sick and recovering with his family in the mid-fifties (if I recall, there is something mentioned by Truffaut in an old issue of Cahiers from '54 or '55 about wishing Rivette good luck in recuperating or something); Bitsch was shocked not only that Rivette even had parents or a family, but also that they were so normal - he couldn't relate this normal family life with Rivette's single-minded intensity for cinema.

Anyway - Secret Compris is great but only in French. Wiles' book was a disappointment. I really love Morrey and Smith's chapter on Rivet's criticism - in fact, I think it's one of them best things ever written about him. The book loses steam for me after that. I also think it's hard to adopt an overall critical concept to link all of Rivette's work to explore in a full length book. Secret Compris takes a highly personal and idiosyncratic approach to Rivette's work - that coupled with the amount of great, unique stories of Rivette in the '50's makes it the best on Rivette by a long way.

[spoon99]

My (reading) French is pretty good, so I'll definitely pick up a copy of Secret compris. Thanks for the recommendation!

To me, the fatal flaw of the Morrey/Smith book is that it isn't well organized, with constant overlaps and redundancies. It really does seem like each author wrote a separate chapter, then they were stitched together for the final book.

All the Best People, I know this doesn't help, but all of Rivette's features have been made available over the years, sometimes from alternative sources. I'm still holding out hope for a non-terrible version of L'amour fou.

[Petty Bourgeoisie]

New listing on Amazon for Le Belle Noiseuse - Should I get excited or prepare myself for disappointment? Listed as a May 8 release.

https://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Troubl ... es+rivette" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[spoon99]

New listing on Amazon for Le Belle Noiseuse - Should I get excited or prepare myself for disappointment? Listed as a May 8 release.

https://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Troubl ... es+rivette" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interesting that this is named The Beautiful Troublemaker. Surely most anyone who would buy this knows it as La Belle Noiseuse?

Anyway, I've thrown my hat into the ring for the BD version. We'll see....

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

I suspect the Amazon listing will change. Cohen themselves are marketing the re-release using the original title, with the English translation as a parenthetical. I doubt the Blu-ray will be treated any differently.

[nolanoe]

A quick question - watching the trailer, I noticed it had this fairly rough "yellow/gold" hue to it. I've seen a lot of releases (also La Prisonniere, Fox and his Friends and the recent Virgin Suicides) sport a similar hue. Now, as somebody who has seen the Noiseuse on 35mm, the hue was absent. It looked fairly natural - a bit dark, but otherwise typical of french films around that time.

In a way, I am wondering if this is merely a technique to "hide" discoloration that came with age. Fox and his Friends is a similar story, with the print having this weird, almost sepia tone, which was absent in the screening I attended a while ago, and probably not caught up on film.

Also similar is the instance with the Suspiria BD, which others went to war over so I don't have to - but it's fair to say that there's an edition where the colors go to the yellow scale to end up green.

[Petty Bourgeoisie]

Now, as somebody who has seen the Noiseuse on 35mm, the hue was absent. It looked fairly natural - a bit dark, but otherwise typical of french films around that time.
.

Did you see an original print or the restored version that toured last year?

[dda1996a]

I highly doubt someone struck a 35mm print off the new DCP

[nolanoe]

Now, as somebody who has seen the Noiseuse on 35mm, the hue was absent. It looked fairly natural - a bit dark, but otherwise typical of french films around that time.
.

Did you see an original print or the restored version that toured last year?

35mm, in 2013. It was a Rivette-retrospective.
Everything was pretty much 35MM, the only one where I am not sure if it was or wasn't was Pont du Nord, which I saw on a "smaller" screen than the others.

[hearthesilence]

I just took a look at the restoration trailer - at least on the computer screen I'm looking at now, there doesn't seem to be a yellow or golden hue, at least nothing that struck me as egregious color timing.

Right after Quad Cinema screened a DCP of the restoration, MoMI screened a 35mm print. Despite a noisy soundtrack on the first few reels, it at least looked like it was in good shape, and it did indeed have a neutral palette. FWIW, Film Forum will be screening a DCP of the new restoration as well as part of a Michel Piccoli retrospective.

[Petty Bourgeoisie]

Artwork has been posted at Amazon. Nothing too earth shattering, but it's not terrible. One gripe is the stupid parenthesized title taking up 50% of the spine.

[pzadvance]

Artwork has been posted at Amazon. Nothing too earth shattering, but it's not terrible. One gripe is the stupid parenthesized title taking up 50% of the spine.

Got a link?

[domino harvey]

You have to search for the awful American title-- some things just sound better in French! Also, literally no one has ever used the English language title

[spectre]

Not a huge fan of that, tbh – what’s with all the silver on the left-hand side (‘C’ for Cohen!?)?

[Cremildo]

Not a huge fan of that, tbh – what’s with all the silver on the left-hand side (‘C’ for Cohen!?)?

Yes. All of their covers are like that, except when the giant C is red.

[Red Screamer]

Any chance Divertimento will be included on Cohen's blu?

[Petty Bourgeoisie]

I'm not privy to any inside information, but I feel confident in saying it will not.

[nolanoe]

Divertimento was just a "short version", no?
These are quite strange in the context of Rivette. As far as I understand, he sometimes made shorts and then decided to "expand" on them, or experiment if he could cut things down (either for festivals or TV).

I still haven't seen Va Savoir (I hope I don't mess up the title), which apparently exists in a great long version that is hard to find and a readily available "TV edit", no?

[MichaelB]

Divertimento was just a "short version", no?

No. It was sourced from the same shoot, but often uses different takes and offers a substantially different perspective on the material.

Put it like this: it would be impossible to recreate it from the restoration of La Belle Noiseuse itself.