Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageLa Belle Noiseuse – Divertimento (1991)
Director: Jacques Rivette
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Rivette here remodels La Belle Noiseuse into another film entirely, using alternative takes, recutting to a much brisker rhythm, and book-ending it with a discreetly but crucially different beginning and ending. The lengthy close-ups of painter Bernard Dufour's hand in action have gone; so have most of the agonising sittings in which Piccoli tries to wring out of Béart the realisation of his ideal masterpiece. This makes for a less tangible sense of painting's material nature, and makes more of a mystery out of the artist-model relationship; the emphasis shifts radically on to Piccoli's wife (Birkin), who now sees the sittings from outside, much as we do. It's a lighter film, but by no means slighter, more like the difference between a Henry James short story and an extended performance piece.Author: JRo
Cast & crew
Director: Jacques Rivette
Producer: Martine Marignac
Cast: Michel Piccoli, Jane Birkin, Emmanuelle Béart, David Bursztein, Marianne Denicourt, Gilles Arbona, Marie Belluc full cast
Duration: 126 mins
Top Stories
Ridley Scott interview
Director Ridley Scott tells Cath Clarke why he's making a science fiction comeback
Cannes Film Festival 2012: half-time report
Dave Calhoun reports on the hits, misses and a shocking new masterpiece from Michael Haneke
What do you think?
Post your review now