LA BELLE NOISEUSE (1991) ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢
D: Jacques Rivette
Michel Piccoli, Emmanuelle Béart, Jane Birkin,
David Bursztein, Marianne Denicourt, Marie Belluc
An exploration into the relationship between an artist and a model, and how it affects their relationships with other people. On a purely physical level, it's not hard to see why an old painter like Frenhofer (Michel Piccoli) would want to work with a subject like Marianne (Emmanuelle Béart). But the artist and the movie are after something deeper - the creative and intellectual tug-of-war that obsesses, tortures and inspires two strong-willed characters in the intense, frustrating, exhilarating universe of artistic collaboration. In takes that go on for minutes at a time, Rivette doesn't show the model at all, only the artist's hands conjuring up images with charcoal or paint, the evolving picture slowly revealing the model's pose. For anybody who's ever wondered what it would be like to be a fly on the wall, literally looking over the artist's shoulder as the creative process takes place, "La Belle Noiseuse" provides that chance.
Michel Piccoli
(1925-2020)
