FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Jacques Rivette - La Belle Noiseuse (engl. subt.)

It was in a hot August afternoon. I was, I think, in 7th grade and had rented La Belle Noiseuse from the Videodrom on VHS. The long version, over six hours. My mother told me that it was impossible to watch TV in this weather. No? I just wanted to have a quick look - and I couldn't stop. That's how fantastic this film is!

Frenhofer, the great artist, hasn't painted anything for ten years. He threw everything away while working on his masterpiece, which he wanted to call La Belle Noiseuse. His model: his own wife Elizabeth, the inspiration for the most successful part of Frenhofer's career. At first, according to Elizabeth, Frenhofer painted her because she loved him. Finally, she explains, because he loved her. Then he stopped, fearing that the work would destroy that love. Frenhofer does not see the outside, he depicts the inside of his models. Bones, sinews, the soul. One day three visitors knock on the door of the chateaus where Frenhofer still lives with Elizabeth in seclusion. A collector, a young painter and his friend Marianne. Marianne is distant, unapproachable and of strong will. During dinner together, Frenhofer looks at Marianne - and this look describes their entire relationship. Marianne senses this, she wants to get away from him, because she is aware of the feelings behind Frenhofer's gaze: he will start painting again. Jacques Rivette's film La Belle Noiseuse is the best film I have ever seen about the creation of art! It is also the greatest film about the painful relationship between an artist and his muse. Rivette's film has a running time of over four hours. He also edited a shortened divertimento version - but what for? The great thing about La Belle Noiseuse is that it spends time creating art - and the sprouting, and eventual destruction, of passion. Frenhofer is played by Michel Piccoli, whose eyes can penetrate other actors. With his high forehead he seems intelligent, but we sense; it is a terrible intelligence. Emmanuelle Béart is a perfect beauty with deep eyes, full lips - and impressive willpower. We can understand what Frenhofer sees in Marianne. His wife Elizabeth (Jane Birkin) understands it too. She warns Marianne not to let Frenhofer paint her eyes. The painting could deprive the model of her vitality (We notice a touch of Oscar Wilde in this idea). So much for the plot, but it doesn't bother us as such. The strongest scenes of the film, they concentrate entirely on creating a work of art. In his brick hall, his studio, Frenhofer begins to sketch Marianne. We look over his shoulder (which Rivette allows us to do in very long takes). A physical process, how he obsessively sorts his pencils, brushes and paints. The first strokes, then oil. Frenhofer assigns Marianne a wardrobe; she understands, takes off her coat and will be naked for the next four hours. First we consider Emmanuelle Béart as a woman, then as a model. Slowly we see what Frenhofer means: her innermost being, her essence, her being. He moves her arms and legs like those of a doll. She complains about her legs falling asleep and asks for a cigarette. Frenhofer takes it away from her and bends it back into position. Does it sound boring just to watch a man painting? Not at all! Tension is slowly built up. A fight for the stronger will develops. Marianne is an imposition, a nuisance. Elizabeth translates "noiseuse" as "nutty". Marianne is crazy. This is what Frenhofer wants! She begins to understand and agrees to her determination. Now it is Marianne who drives the work. The day La Belle Noiseuse is finished, we don't get to see it. Marianne describes how she saw something in it, cold and dry - herself. That must be enough for us. At night Elizabeth sneaks into the studio and realizes: she marks the painting with a cross. It marks Frenhofer's death. Now imagine this atmosphere with the sounds Rivette uses in the old castle. We hear the wind in the woods outside and in the old walls, kicks, the slamming of an old door. It's no coincidence that La Belle Noiseuse seems like a haunted movie. Elizabeth mentioned that the old walls are haunted. We hear the scratching of the pencils on the paper (and increasingly loudly). During one scene we see Marianne bent under a cross. At first she cries softly, then she starts to laugh - more and more. The scratching of the pencils, we think we can still hear it, although Frenhofer has put it aside. It is said that the nouvelle vage took place only because of him: Jacques Rivette. He himself was never as famous as his companions. Rivette's films turned out to be too long and complicated for that. But in La Belle Noiseuse I don't see the slightest difficulty! I wish the film to be as long as it is - not a minute less! I sympathized with the struggle in the studio, with the bond that was created. Piccoli embodies exactly Frenhofer's Vorst Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)