January
17 - 21, 2007
Masterpieces
of World Cinema - Early Rivette
“If
there is something comforting –
religious,
if you want –
about paranoia,
there is still also anti-paranoia, where nothing is connected
to anything, a condition that not many of us can bear for long.”
–
Thomas
Pynchon, Gravity’s
Rainbow
 Jacques
Rivette, born in France in 1928, emerged in the 1950’s as one
of the primary members of the French New Wave. Although one
of the least well-screened of the group (which includes Truffaut,
Chabrol, Rohmer and Godard), he is arguably the most challenging
and richest in intellectual inquiry of the French cinema of
his time. In 1952, Rivette began writing criticism for Cahiers
du Cinema.
It was there that New Wave critics began to create a more spontaneous
film esthetic, rejecting the traditional values for an innovative
style that was judged on the way the filmmaker succeeded realizing
his own vision. The themes of paranoia, plotting and the sustained
relationship between theatrical expression and everyday life
are apparent both in Rivette’s early films (Paris Belongs
to Us 1960), as well as in his more recent works (Va
savoir 2001).
As
Francoise Truffaut has said, “Rivette was more of a cinema nut
than any of us, and his films prove that he is more of a moviemaker
than any of us as well.” After 45 years, Rivette’s films remain
fresh and quietly spectacular as the day that they were made.
Wednesday,
January 17 at 7pm
Paris
Belongs
to Us (Paris
nous appartient)
dir.
Jacques Rivette, France, 1961, 35mm, 138 mins, b/w, French w/
English subtitles
 Paris
Belongs to Us revolves
around a group rehearsing Shakespeare’s Pericles whose
members comprise a literature student, her older brother, an
ex-pat American author and a mysterious woman whose presence
eventually causes the entire party to believe that they are
involved in a world-wide plot – or is it simply paranoia? “Am
I going crazy, or is the whole world?” asks the student. “Both,
kid,” her brother replies.
Thursday,
January 18 at 7pm
The
Nun (La
Religieuse)
dir.
Jacques Rivette, France, 1966, 35mm, 135 mins, color, French
w/ English subtitles
 An
adaptation of Diderot’s novel, La Religieuse tells
the story of Suzanne (Anna Karina), a young girl forced into
a nunnery by her callous, bourgeois family. As she begs hysterically
for her parents to set her free, she becomes the object of the
abuse of power and sexual corruption. At last, though, through
her own act of will, Suzanne becomes a graceful symbol of flight
and ultimate transcendence.
Friday,
January 19 at 7pm
Out
1: Spectre
dir.
Jacques Rivette, France, 1971, 16mm, 255 mins, b/w, French w/
English subtitles
Based
on a story by Honore de Balzac, Out 1: Spectre was
carved from a version of Rivette’s thirteen-hour film Out
One: Noli me tangere. Two theatrical groups are rehearsing
plays by Aeschylus. The thirteen players, seemingly unconnected,
form what may or may not be a secret society. Two outsiders
(Juliet Berto and Jean-Pierre Leaud) join forces to understand
the nature of the conspiracy, but ultimately fail. The viewers
also find themselves unbalanced. Do we trust any of these characters?
If so, whom?
Saturday,
January 20 at 2pm
Twhylight
(Duelle)
dir.
Jacques Rivette, France, 1974, 35mm, 118 mins, color, French
w/ English subtitles
Duelle
is a tale of two
goddesses, the Sun and the Moon as they search for a mysterious
diamond. Without it they can live on earth only forty days.
An uncanny mood piece, the film takes place in a weirdly unpopulated
Paris. Duelle was intended to be one segment of Rivette’s
four-part project, Scenes de la vie parallelle. Unfortunately,
two films were never finished, but Duelle stands well
on its own.
Sunday,
January 21 at 2pm
Cineastes
de notre temps
Jacques
Rivette, le Veilleur
dir.
Claire Denis, France, 1990, BetaSP, 125 mins, color, French
w/ English subtitles
In
a series of filmed interviews between Jacques Rivette and Serge
Daney (Cahiers du cinema
and Liberation), the two men discuss Rivette’s
long career, from superior film critic to first rate filmmaker.
Rivette talks of his use of various techniques, how he relates
with actors, and his relationship with other filmmakers of the
new wave.
Please
be aware that the screening of Jean
Renoir, le patron is
cancelled.
Sunday,
January 21 at 7pm
Love
on the Ground (L’Amore par terre)
dir.
Jacques Rivette, France, 1984, 35mm, 125 mins, color, French
w/ English subtitles
 A
group of Parisians travel to an apartment where they become
the audience for a play. They move through the rooms observing
the actors. While this theatrical experience is innovative and
radical, the content of the play begins to mirror the real-life
events of the playwright. The players within the film begin
exchanging roles with the real life actors and some weirdly
prophetic events occur.
This retrospective
was made possible with the assistance of David Schwartz and
Livia Bloom of the Museum of the Moving Image (New York), the
Cultural Services of the French Embassy, the French Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, and the National Film Theatre in London.
Special thanks to the UCLA Film and Television Archive, The
British Film Institute, Celluloid Dreams, Cinema Parallel, Connasissance
du Cinéma, New Yorker Films, Pierre Grise Productions and Société
Solaris et Société Sunshine.
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