La Bande Des Quatre

1988, directed by Jacques Rivette
It would be fair to say this is one of Rivette’s less, in so far as photography, formally distinctive works. There is as usual the long takes, shots, and tracks, but a noticeable amount of a more traditional kind of editing, with even a decent amount of shot-reverse work. There is, perhaps because of this, more medium shots, often in Rivette’s diagonal style patterns. This can create more of a sense of claustrophobia in its way. Distinctive in this film are the takes, at night, from the metro. These are haunting, filled with tremors and lights. Though few, they bring elements together into a kind of sociological framework.
Rivette again works with primary colours as almost all his work does; big blocks, originally influenced by Hollywood (Minnelli, Taschlin). This is a way of marking out characters, but in this film does not (like it often does, even for Rivette) distance the audience. Here it rather works to emphasise, even simplify, the mis-en-scene.
The plot is Rivette like at first glance; women in a house, even with tensions and structures of domination under the surface, and idyll broken by outsiders. Each has their own stories, their own history. There is a real depth in the extent and screen time given to each; different scenes frame as the centre different leads. This style of various strands, some consequential and some not, with the seeming ‘master’ strand being a strange, paranoid amalgam, is Rivettte like. This film though is less playful, perhaps more ‘naturalist’ than other of Rivette’s works. The characters are slightly more serious, more concerned (as is the direction) with their own problems and issues. This film is at its best when it does get down to some mucking around; the ‘court’ and the keys.
There is an element of ‘Big Brother’ about this, of the actors as rats trapped inside, fighting for their lives. The use of the stage is further developed by Rivette, here suggesting at once a place for release and a manipulation, as though they find difficult to escape being watched, even if all the spectators have left. The panoptical society.
This film is then more ‘gritty’, more concerned with psychology and less playful than other of Rivette’s works. It is also, in our judgement, frankly a little less successful, though that doesn’t mean Rivette should not at least be applauded for changing the element of his highly successful formula around (you can’t make a great film over and over again without diminishing returns). A little disappointing, but still full of interesting human detail.