Reflections on Jacques Rivette’s “La Belle Noiseuse” [1991 France]

Jacques Rivette is one of the very few nouvelle vague directors who is impossible to pigeon-hole – he has consistently experimented with cinema using different genres, techniques, and narratives, embodying the true spirit of French New Wave itself.

At first glance, his epic four-hour “La Belle Noiseuse” appears to follow an artist’s journey through the course of a painting. Which it nevertheless does, in exquisite detail. It explores artist Frenhofer’s quest for capturing the essence of his subject – ‘La belle noiseuse’ loosely translates as ‘the beautiful troublemaker’, alluding to a late medieval French courtesan who was coined the aforementioned epithet. It’s a quest that cannot be carried out alone – the artist needs to discover it through his model, and hence it’s a journey that they should together undertake. The film also delves into the artist’s frame of mind, his dilemmas, and moral compulsions – he is after all also justifying a purpose, after his agent persuades him to restart a painting that he’d already given up ten years earlier. The last time he pursued the painting with his wife as model, in his own words, “it was either the painting or my marriage – I chose the latter”. He hadn’t painted since.

The chosen model, Marriane, girlfriend of a young artist and admirer of Frenhofer, agrees to pose for the resumed project at first reluctantly, but her indignant and cocooned self will subsequently be forced open through her sittings for Frenhofer. And along with her inhibitions, Marriane also begins to shed her earlier preconceived notions and denials – she begins to feel liberated, which will inevitably also influence decisions in her personal life henceforth. Frenhofer will conceive through Marriane his ‘La belle noiseuse’, and it will turn out to be an image that no one expected, nor even wanted to see…

Frenhofer rigorously working through his drawings – as fascinating as it is to watch, does get a bit tedious after a while, and Marriane’s contortionist poses in the nude also lose its novelty rather quickly. If a film had meandered along for four hours by emphasising repetitively what has already been implied before, just to tell a story, one might be forgiven for considering it pretentious. But thankfully, that is not Rivette’s main goal in the film. Rivette himself is the artist here and like Frenhofer, going through several raw sketches of his own to understand his subject, which is also the same as Frenhofer’s. It is Rivette using film as his sketchbook and canvas. In just the same way that Frenhofer’s final creation is not of great interest to him save the creative journey itself (even the audience don’t get to see the finished painting), what Rivette had captured through acres of film is less important to him than the film making process itself. That doesn’t mean he didn’t really care what he shot – far from it, every shot is thoughtfully chosen, every nuance captured with Rivette’s customary attention to detail, and every actor (including the cat) make a perfectly orchestrated entrance. Rivette might just as well be the film’s Frenhofer squeezing the soul out of his models, forcing them to strike testing poses, and pushing them as much as he’s pushing himself. A clue to his intentions is in the way he keeps reminding us that we are watching something that is being ‘filmed’! Not only do we often watch from a viewpoint that doesn’t belong to any of the protagonists, we even get to see parts of the filming equipment from time to time, and also some visibly apparent improvisations with dialogue – we are watching the film ‘being made’.

This is where the “shorter” version of the film released a year later, “La belle Noiseuse – Divertimento” requires mentioning. When I suggested above that Rivette has used film as his sketchbook and canvas, it wasn’t my being spoilt for choice between two words for completing a sentence as sometimes is the case – if “La Belle Noiseuse” is the sketchbook, Rivette’s “La Belle Noiseuse – Divertimento” is his finished canvas. In the latter, not only do we see the seemingly repetitive elements/strokes removed, it also incorporates the most ideal film compositions for advancing the narrative, the best takes in terms of acting, and the ideal marriage of visuals and dialogues, all coming together to give us a more ‘mainstream’ cinema experience. A typical example is in the passage of play relating to Frenhofer’s usage of the earlier unfinished painting as canvas for the new painting – while the earlier work’s defacement is shown explicitly and also argued over in depth by his wife in the longer version, the shorter version gets the same message across using the argument alone with barely a hint of the unfinished painting’s defacement.

In terms of performance, Michel Piccoli as Frenhofer is the artist himself – to the effect that when I first viewed this film some fifteen years ago, I thought Mr. Piccoli was an accomplished painter himself. An artist’s restlessness and self-centred quest for the unknown is vividly brought to life by one of the finest actors in French cinema. This was also the first of many collaborations between an up-and-coming Emmanuelle Béart and Jacques Rivette – one that will stand the test of time. Ms. Béart fits into her character like a glove, and brings forth the vulnerability and confusion of her character hitherto hidden beneath her tough exterior with aplomb.

Among the films of Jacques Rivette that I’ve had the pleasure to see, this may not be my absolute favourite – that’ll be my next Rivette, but “La belle noiseuse” still has its unique charms and is worthy of mention in his remarkable body of work. Borrowing the analogy of films to artworks and how masterpieces are looked at in general, while the longer version (with transitional sketches) is for the connoisseur, the shorter version (finished and framed canvas) is for the enthusiast. We have a choice – both may be the same film, but are distinctive nevertheless, and Highly Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon DVD Link (Longer version)
This is a beautiful Artificial Eye 3-Disc release with one whole disc dedicated to interviews and behind-the-scenes footage.

Amazon DVD Link (Abridged version)
Again from Artificial Eye, this excellent 3-Disc box-set titled The French Collection Volume 4 – Emmanuelle Béart features two other brilliant films of Ms. Béart – Les Témoins, and Histoire de Marie et Julien, both already reviewed in the blog. Three classics from two great directors – now that’s value for money.

 

.

The Nudity: Emmanuelle Béart and Michel Piccoli
Enhanced to 720p, this special film is certainly worth the effort, me thinks.

Emmanuelle Béart in La belle noiseuse

Beautiful Emmanuelle Béart and Michel Piccoli are captivating as model and artist on a joint quest in Jacques Rivette’s classic, “La Belle Noiseuse”.

.

 

Scene Guide:

  • Marianne isn’t too pleased to learn that her boyfriend had already agreed on her behalf to pose for veteran artist Frenhofer’s forthcoming masterpiece. Marianne is played by a beautiful and expressive Emmanuelle Béart.
  • Marianne’s first nervous session with Frenhofer, played by one of Europe’s finest actors, Michel Piccoli.
  • A sampler-collage taken from different scenes to give an indication of the growing trust and bond between artist and model.

I had really wanted to write about a different Rivette film in this post, but decided on posting “La Belle Noiseuse” after several recent requests. I guess I was trying to put this off because of the complexity of this important work, and the effort it requires to do it full justice while writing about it. Not many have properly commented on the shorter version of the film, and I hope this goes some way in filling the void. I also feel this compilation is worthy of enhancement even if it had insanely taxed my time and computer.

Download Links: (updated: 10th Dec 2013)
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
(All parts required – unpack with Winrar)

.

This entry was posted in Emmanuelle Béart, France, Jacques Rivette and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

8 Responses to Reflections on Jacques Rivette’s “La Belle Noiseuse” [1991 France]

  1. cris1 says:

    THANK YOU so much !! You , sir , are one of the best of the best ! I’m speechless ! Many , many , thanks again!!!

    • TR says:

      you’re welcome..! 🙂
      (in response to your e-mail) I agree that for some reason the site seems to time-out when trying to post comments – think I need to optimise the database. If it does time-out, for the time being just hit the back button and try again – it usually works.

      .

  2. perperikis says:

    The daily stop to your site is becoming an obsession. The quality work and the fact that you don’t use mainstream dull american movies makes the difference. I just love your collection.

    Thank you a million times for all these great montages you provide us.

  3. Benovan Stanchiano says:

    Beautiful compilation. This was always one of my favorites, and I love seeing these scenes enhanced to 720. There are some great scenes in the longer version, but I know what you mean when you say they tend to be redundant.

    • TR says:

      You’re right Benovan – the nudity factor is definitely higher in the longer version, with many shots showing the full-figure. In the shorter version, the same scenes use a different set of shots in combination with close-ups, which makes it more purposeful from a cinematic point of view, because we get to see the model’s expressions and state of mind during the scene.

      I watched both versions simultaneously, scene by scene before writing this review, and it certainly was a fascinating experience.
      .

  4. sauly46 says:

    u r great,loved this one ,such a superb masterpiece,Emmanuelle Béart is fantastic ,one of her great scenes, very pretty&so sexy.
    Thank You,
    saul

  5. irina says:

    This one is wonderful. It’s very good to see the beautiful Emmanuelle Béart posing, she is very talented and she makes this film a classic of French cinema. Highly recommended indeed.

    This compilation is a must-view, it’s one of my favorites between all the wonders of this blog, not to metion the high quality of the image and the perfect enhancement.

    Great work.

Leave a Reply