Jacques Rivette
Every director has his own way of getting into movies. Some do so by starting out as actors, others as film critics for various film magazines or in the case of Quentin Tarantino, he became a film director purely from watching so many videos from working at a video store. Naturally enough, getting into film is a hard and risky business and it's cut throat nature makes it harder still to maintain a living. You need all the luck in the world to keep going and presevering with this "vision" of what you want the film to be. In the case of one director, we see how he has managed to carry on despite numerous setbacks. His name is Jacques Rivette.
Jacques Rivette was born in Rouen in 1928. By 1950 he had made two short movies Aux quatre coins and Le quadrille but by and large he spent the 1950s as a film critic for the legendary Cahiers du Cinéma. It was here that he was brought under the wing of prominent French film critic, André Bazin. It was at this time that he had met future filmmakers, Francois Truffaut, Jean Luc Godard, Eric Rohmer and Claude Chabrol. Francois Truffaut has commented that the French New Wave of films began "thanks to Rivette."
Be that as it may, success has eluded Rivette but this is because his films are very difficult to pigeonhole. Right frm his first major film, Paris nous appartient ( Paris Belongs To Us ) he has been dogged with trouble. Film critic, Tom Milne commented that Rivette's films made him "the director people love to hate." A bit unkind perhaps but his films do have a polarizing effect. His second film La religieuse was banned for a year because it caused a scandal in France. When you make enemies such as the Catholic Church, the French State and last but not least, the president, Charles De Gaulle's wife, you know you've got a problem. When released after the ban was lifted however, the film became a huge hit.
This was only the start of his troubles as he began to experiment with the entire medium of film. His next film was the unwieldy L'amour fou which at 4 hours and 15 minutes was guaranteed to test the patience of most filmgoers. This was a drop in the ocean though as his next project was for French TV. Out 1 was intended to be a TV series that would show 9 episodes at roughly an hour and a half in length. The TV station pulled the plug on it when they balked at a) the costs and b) the lack of a clear plot. Subsequently it was shown once in film theatres at it's original long running 13 hour version before he would spend the next year editing it down to 4 hours for theatrical consumption. It wouldn't matter however as the film itself got lost on the shelves doomed to failure. It has retrospectively become a kind of must-see event for serious filmgoers and has been shown in some arthouse cinemas recently with pauses inbetween.
This pretty much defined the 70s but for one film. Céline et Julie vont en bateau ( Celine and Julie go boating ) was very much a success on release despite running at three hours long in length. Apparently, Susan Seidelman who made Desperately Seeking Susan claims that it was the film Celine and Julie that influenced her in making said film. It seems rather hard to believe that the two films can be in any way similar at all other than the basic outlay of female friendships.
However once Celine and Julie had lasted it's course, it was very much business as normal. Rivette accepted a 4 film series of "Les filles de feu." The first of these, Duelle, was heavily criticized that the subsequent movie, Noroit, was held back on release. Some film critics heavily praise Noroit as being the greatest film he has ever made. However the remaining 2 parts were never filmed as Rivette had been struck down with a nervous breakdown. He was just about to start L'histoire de Marie et Julien when it happened and everything was called off. Eventually he managed to finish the film years later with Emmanuelle Béart and Jerzy Radziwilowicz instead of the original actors Leslie Caron and Albert Finney.
The 80s were more or less the same......his films were more or less edited against Rivette's wishes. However it was by the 90s that he saw critical reception towards him beginning to change. In 1991, he released La Belle Noiseuse with Emmanuelle Béart which was again critically lauded even when the original running time was well over 4 hours. However, Rivette had a ready made 2 hour version called Divertimento. This success had spurred him on to make a 2 part movie in Jeanne La Pucelle, his own take of Joan of Arc. He has continued to make movies right up until last year with Jane Birkin ( something of a Rivette regular ) in 36 Vues de Pic Saint Loup or Around a Small Mountain for English viewers.
It is testament to Jacques Rivette that despite many problems he has faced with his films, whether it has been through state funding or even the State banning his films, bad critical reception and so on that he has continued to make films despite what the outcome may be. Films may come and go in the public consciousness and although his films may not have been seen by the majority of the masses, he's still seen as influential enough to inspire many filmmakers today. In that respect, that is no small achievement.
Jacques Rivette was born in Rouen in 1928. By 1950 he had made two short movies Aux quatre coins and Le quadrille but by and large he spent the 1950s as a film critic for the legendary Cahiers du Cinéma. It was here that he was brought under the wing of prominent French film critic, André Bazin. It was at this time that he had met future filmmakers, Francois Truffaut, Jean Luc Godard, Eric Rohmer and Claude Chabrol. Francois Truffaut has commented that the French New Wave of films began "thanks to Rivette."
Be that as it may, success has eluded Rivette but this is because his films are very difficult to pigeonhole. Right frm his first major film, Paris nous appartient ( Paris Belongs To Us ) he has been dogged with trouble. Film critic, Tom Milne commented that Rivette's films made him "the director people love to hate." A bit unkind perhaps but his films do have a polarizing effect. His second film La religieuse was banned for a year because it caused a scandal in France. When you make enemies such as the Catholic Church, the French State and last but not least, the president, Charles De Gaulle's wife, you know you've got a problem. When released after the ban was lifted however, the film became a huge hit.
This was only the start of his troubles as he began to experiment with the entire medium of film. His next film was the unwieldy L'amour fou which at 4 hours and 15 minutes was guaranteed to test the patience of most filmgoers. This was a drop in the ocean though as his next project was for French TV. Out 1 was intended to be a TV series that would show 9 episodes at roughly an hour and a half in length. The TV station pulled the plug on it when they balked at a) the costs and b) the lack of a clear plot. Subsequently it was shown once in film theatres at it's original long running 13 hour version before he would spend the next year editing it down to 4 hours for theatrical consumption. It wouldn't matter however as the film itself got lost on the shelves doomed to failure. It has retrospectively become a kind of must-see event for serious filmgoers and has been shown in some arthouse cinemas recently with pauses inbetween.
This pretty much defined the 70s but for one film. Céline et Julie vont en bateau ( Celine and Julie go boating ) was very much a success on release despite running at three hours long in length. Apparently, Susan Seidelman who made Desperately Seeking Susan claims that it was the film Celine and Julie that influenced her in making said film. It seems rather hard to believe that the two films can be in any way similar at all other than the basic outlay of female friendships.
However once Celine and Julie had lasted it's course, it was very much business as normal. Rivette accepted a 4 film series of "Les filles de feu." The first of these, Duelle, was heavily criticized that the subsequent movie, Noroit, was held back on release. Some film critics heavily praise Noroit as being the greatest film he has ever made. However the remaining 2 parts were never filmed as Rivette had been struck down with a nervous breakdown. He was just about to start L'histoire de Marie et Julien when it happened and everything was called off. Eventually he managed to finish the film years later with Emmanuelle Béart and Jerzy Radziwilowicz instead of the original actors Leslie Caron and Albert Finney.
The 80s were more or less the same......his films were more or less edited against Rivette's wishes. However it was by the 90s that he saw critical reception towards him beginning to change. In 1991, he released La Belle Noiseuse with Emmanuelle Béart which was again critically lauded even when the original running time was well over 4 hours. However, Rivette had a ready made 2 hour version called Divertimento. This success had spurred him on to make a 2 part movie in Jeanne La Pucelle, his own take of Joan of Arc. He has continued to make movies right up until last year with Jane Birkin ( something of a Rivette regular ) in 36 Vues de Pic Saint Loup or Around a Small Mountain for English viewers.
It is testament to Jacques Rivette that despite many problems he has faced with his films, whether it has been through state funding or even the State banning his films, bad critical reception and so on that he has continued to make films despite what the outcome may be. Films may come and go in the public consciousness and although his films may not have been seen by the majority of the masses, he's still seen as influential enough to inspire many filmmakers today. In that respect, that is no small achievement.
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