Jacques Rivette is perhaps the best-kept secret of French cinema. A founding figure in the New Wave, and at the centre of the Cahiers du cinéma team, he developed into one of the most unusual and adventurous French directors of the last sixty years, yet his work remains little-known in comparison with his contemporaries, and this study is the first in English to look at the full span of his career. Starting with his decisively influential film criticism of the 1950s, it moves from the New Wave through the complex, experimental films of the 1970s to the challenging, playful dramas which ensured his visibility during the following two decades, and ends in the present, including Rivettes most recent films, Histoire de Marie et Julien (2003) and Ne touchez pas la hache (2007).The book takes a thematic approach, offering detailed discussion of key elements of Rivettes film world, including games, conspiracy and jealousy, as well as a study of what Rivettes cinema adds to our understanding of key theoretical concepts in Film Studies such as narrative, space and adaptation. There are many close analyses of sequences from Rivettes films including Paris nous appartient (1961), Céline et Julie vont en bateau (1974) and La Belle Noiseuse (1991).
Douglas Morrey is Associate Professor in the Department of French Studies in the University of Warwick. Alison Smith is Lecturer in European Film Studies at the University of Liverpool
List of platesSeries editors forewordAcknowledgements1 Introduction2 The art of the present and the dialectics of duration: The film criticism of Jacques Rivette3 In the labyrinth: Narrative, conspiracy, community4 Story as space: Space as story5 Family secrets6 La Règle du jeu: Games and play7 Play, theatre and performance8 Adaptation9 Pushing the envelope: Bodies, love and jealousy10 Out of time: The unconsoled in Rivettes late worksConclusionSelect bibliographyFilmographyIndex
