1973–1982: Fantasy films and nervous breakdown Jacques Rivette

juliet berto (left) , bulle ogier (center) co-starred in céline et julie vont en bateau; marie dubois on right. ogier appeared in 7 of rivette s films.

during summer of 1973, rivette attempted make phénix, film early-1900s paris theatrical world have starred jeanne moreau. due budgetary constraints, forced abandon project. rivette made critically acclaimed film, céline , julie go boating. aller en bateau ( go boating ) french slang caught in fiction or taken ride . rivette met friends, actresses juliet berto , dominique labourier, develop 2 characters , created plot , script collaborator eduardo de gregorio. later said during pre-production period, never had [fun]. don’t believe ever laughed . unlike previous 2 films, rivette did not use improvisation during filming , said plot constructed in advance.

filled references alice in wonderland, jean cocteau , marcel proust, céline , julie go boating begins when julie (labourier), , céline (berto) meet chance , become friends. begin visit mysterious house of fiction same melodrama (based on 2 short stories henry james) plays out every day, ending murder of young girl bizarre camille (ogier). shot in 5 weeks during summer of 1973, céline , julie go boating won special jury prize @ 1974 locarno international film festival. produced barbet schroeder , distributed les films du losange. jonathan rosenbaum praised film, writing knew many women consider céline et julie vont en bateau favorite movie female friendship .

rivette conceived , obtained funding series of 4 films, scènes de la vie parallèle. each film revolving around 2 female characters, part 1 love story, part 2 fantasy, part 3 adventure , part 4 musical comedy. according rivette, intention film series invent new approach film acting speech, pared down essential phrases, precise formulas, play role of poetic punctuation. neither return silent cinema nor pantomime, nor choreography: else, movements of bodies, counterpoint , inscription in space of screen, basis of [a] mise-en-scene. tetralogy, reflecting political situation in france (including conservative backlash after may 68 , election of valéry giscard d estaing), tied improvised musical scores. rivette collaborated on scenarios de gregorio , parolini.

in duelle (une quarantaine), queen of night (juliet berto) battles queen of sun (bulle ogier) on magic diamond allow winner remain in modern-day paris. in noroît (une vengeance), pirate morag (geraldine chaplin) seeks revenge against pirate giulia (bernadette lafont) killing brother. duelle filmed in march , april 1975, , noroît shot in brittany in may. de gregorio saw cyril tourneur s revenger s tragedy, , suggested rivette. script, written in 15th-century old english, caused difficulty actresses.

in august 1975 rivette began filming part 1 of series: marie et julien, love story starring albert finney , leslie caron. after 3 days of shooting, rivette broke down due nervous exhaustion , production of series abandoned. rivette later said broke down physically.... had overestimated own strength. although marguerite duras offered finish film, actors refused continue without rivette. in 2003, said marie et julien based on true story of woman committed suicide. rivette s musical-comedy fourth film have starred anna karina , jean marais. noroît premiered in london , shown @ 1976 cannes film festival, never distributed. , duelle received mediocre reviews, causing problems rivette series producers. director said susan sontag enjoyed noroît, , jean rouch recognized ancient african myths in plot (in rivette had included celtic myths).

according director, took on year recover breakdown. producer stéphane tchalgadjieff had renegotiated contract scènes de la vie parallèle series require 1 more film, intended first or fourth part. rivette decided wanted film both or neither , made unrelated film, merry-go-round. tchalgadjieff had told him maria schneider wanted make film him , actor joe dallesandro , rivette agreed. shot in 1978 not completed until 1981, film detective story missing sister , inheritance. rivette relied on improvisation during production, described after few days going badly . although schneider recovering illness , , rivette wanted abandon project, persuaded continue cast , crew. rivette said, there 2 people in poor health during filming, , there wasn’t money @ . on year after filming completed, added footage of film s composers, barre phillips , john surman, in performance despite lack of relation plot or characters. merry-go-round, theatrically released in 1983, received mediocre reviews.

in 1980, rivette decided remake out 1. ogier, original-cast member available project, , daughter pascale ogier worked rivette on characters director had done decade earlier. co-screenwriter suzanne schiffman made 30-minute short film (paris s en va) sketch eventual feature le pont du nord, distributed in 1982. le pont du nord stars bulle , pascale ogier 2 women meet , investigate strange snakes , ladders-like map of paris , mysterious man named max. rivette had difficulty finding financing, centre national de la cinématographie refusing 3 times fund film. director accommodated tight budget making bulle ogier s character claustrophobic, because not afford many interior scenes. according rivette biographer mary wiles, paris belong reflection of france during 1950s , out 1 1960s, le pont du nord completes trilogy reflecting social , political milieu of 1970s france.

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