1994, Jacques Rivette
This is one of Rivette’s modern day films, that are of a kind popular in recent French cinema. It would be easy to be boring, and most filmmakers are with such realist material, but Rivette’s mastery of the mis-en-scene avoids this. One simply does not know what will happen next; not in a suspenseful way, but in the way that is like life, constant change. The characters are constantly moving in the shot, and one has a real sense of the hors-champ as they come in and out, acting and moving. This is enhanced by the fluid camerawork, which doesn’t fix position. Notice in this film also the juxtapositions of cold and warm colours.
Perhaps the most surprising elements of this film are how it seems to momentarily come outside outside in the musical interludes. These are, like the film references that threaten to overwhelm moments when one slightly wonders what is going on. The decidedly realist and odten low-key settings are suddenly transferred into a gangster’s den or the set of a musical, surprising one. This does add a poetry to the lives. One wouldn’t endorse it without reservation, but it certainly does break the film up nicely at times, allowing reflection.
This film is explicitly about fragility, males projecting fragility (perhaps their own) onto women, how that plays out. The strands are nicely balanced, even if perhaps the most interesting of the three leads has the least screen time (this may not be unconnected). This is another foray into lives that start off separate, come together, and sprawl into many different corners. One wouldn’t mistake this film for a masterpiece, but Rivette is able to always create scenes that hold one’s attention, and characters one is more than happy to spend time with.
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