| La Belle Noiseuse [1991] | ![La Belle Noiseuse [1991]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41HZHYJ6RJL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Jacques Rivette
Actors: Michel Piccoli, Jane Birkin, Emmanuelle Beart, Marianne Denicourt, David Bursztein
Studio: Artificial Eye
Category: Video
List Price: £22.99
Buy New: £19.98
You Save: £3.01 (13%)
New (2) Used (2) from £4.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 13011
Format: Box Set, Hifi Sound, Pal, Subtitled
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Media: VHS Tape
Running Time: 228 minutes
Number Of Items: 2
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 4.7 x 2.4
EAN: 5024165045725
ASIN: B00004CMAX
Theatrical Release Date: 1991
Release Date: March 8, 1993
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 10 | | NEXT » |
 Long and difficult, but mesmerising November 11, 2008
The plot is very simple... a painter re-discovers his muse when he meets the girlfriend of one of his fans, because she reminds him of his wife, who used to be his model. After some persuasion she agrees to become his new model and he begins to paint his unfinished masterpiece "La Belle Noiseuse".
That's pretty much the plot in a nutshell and it yet it runs for the best part of 4 hours. Yes, it sounds dull and could so easily have been, but the tension created between the characters and the attention to detail, especially regarding the creative process makes it an extraordinary experience, quite unlike any other film I've seen.
If you want action and hate art or you just want a light-hearted night in front of the TV, this is not the movie for you. If you want to be mesmerised for 4 hours by something slow and intense then you should watch it.
My advice: don't waste your money on the Divertimento version of this movie. It's about half the length but is not as you might expect, edited highlights of the full film. It's made up from scraps off the cutting room floor because the director (Rivette) refused to compromise his vision of the movie: unused second rate shots, static cameras, as well the greatly reduced detail make the Divertimento version a very poor relation.
If you want a short version of La Belle Noiseuse, you probably don't want La Belle Noiseuse at all. It's long because it needs to be.
Spellbinding - I loved everything about it August 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As I often say with many French films, this is definitely not for everyone.
For me however, a luscious combination of oppressive, sun-drenched days, haunted characters, sexual politics, Rivette's ability to create unsettling atmospheres, and very fine acting made this film perfect.
I watched this on release when I was a student and while I quite liked it, I wasn't blown away. Like many such films, it has taken a second, more measured viewing for me to really appreciate it.
It is a long film and practicalities meant that this time I was unable to watch it in one sitting, but it is well worth the effort. I know nothing about painting/drawing and the processes an artist goes through to create such works, so I also feel I learned something, and really enjoyed watching the still life drawings and paintings come to life.
Emmanuelle Beart is as enviously beautiful and seductive as ever, which almost deflects from her great acting skills. However, she skillfully conveys the frustrations of a young writer (a tortured artist herself in many ways) in an uncertain relationship with a man who volunteers her services for the project, only to change his mind later, delivering a multi-layered and very committed peformance. For me personally, this relationship was the most manipulative and exploitative of all the relationships in the film, and the appearance of his sister offers further insight into what Beart's character has had to endure. And early on, her writing is dismissed as little more than a hobby or part time job compared with her boyfriend's aspirations to be a 'real' artist.
As several reviewers have already pointed out, she does seem to spend a lot of time undressed, but it is geniunely in the name of art, it is tastefully done and is not seedy in any way. If I had an older child who was interested in art, I would definitely watch this with them.
Michel Piccoli of course, is excellent, and the ever wonderful Jane Birkin is a revelation - and just as timelessly beautiful as Beart in many ways.
I'll be watching it again as soon as I have a free evening...
Pretentious yes, but it is a work of art April 13, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This loses a star for its sheer length, at 229 minutes its too long. As with a lot of French films I found the beginning very slow. Nothing really seemed to happen in the first 1/2 to 3/4s of an hour. Others will probably rightly say that all this is character development...
However, don't let the above put you off, because actually its a rewarding film on many levels. If you are interested in art then the film will fascinate you. The scenes with the artist and his model are engrossing and even more engrossing for me was watching the creation of the art. You actually see, for minutes at a time, drawing with ink, and charcoal, as well as the frustration of the artist and the magic of creation.
Of course this is also an erotic movie. Emmanuelle Beart as Marianne is a stunning looking art model who is physically manipulated by Frenhofer, the artist, to try and capture something that he never completed when painting his wife ten years earlier.
The story is slight, and yes pretentious, but in the end rewarding, as at the end there are a number of surprises, which neatly tie all the loose ends together. You may like me not appreciate or understand the ending initially, but the revelation ocurred to me the next day and everything fell into place.
Yes This is Like Watching Paint Dry!!! April 26, 2007
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
I like to watch paint dry, so this works for me. I am an artist and the pretentiousness of the french is perfect for this film. Artists and art lovers aside the appeal would have been greater had this been edited down to 80 or 90 minutes. However,there is enough mediocrity out there. Hold on to your seat, get comfy and just enjoy. If you get bored, play it backwards. It works!
"He wanted to paint me because he loved me. He stopped painting me because he loved me" February 26, 2007
27 out of 27 found this review helpful
"La Belle Noiseuse", directed by Jacques Rivette, is a splendid albeit admittedly extremely long film that manages to make the spectator understand the possibilities and dangers that are distinctive of art. An extremely good painter can bare the soul of his subject, but that is not always a good thing, specially if the artist's ruthless eye concentrates on the worse moral traits of his model. When is it time to stop? And can a real artist betray himself and his art and not paint what he is seeing?
That is the problem Edouard Frenhofer (Michel Piccoli) faced, when he had to choose between his art and his wife. Frenhofer, an extremely famous artist, decided to stop painting a portrait called "La Belle Noiseuse", because he knew that his model, his wife Liz (Jane Birkin), would hate the results. According to Liz, "He wanted to paint me because he loved me. He stopped painting me because he loved me".
Many years later, Frenhofer gets another chance to finish his painting, thanks to the visit of an admirer, a young painter named Nicolas (David Bursztein). Nicolas suggests that his beautiful girlfriend, Marianne (Emmanuelle Beart), could be the new nude model for "La Belle Noiseuse". Frenhofer loves the idea, as does Liz. Even Marianne, mad at first at Nicolas for his suggestion, ends up embracing the challenge. However, as days go by and Frenhofer and Marianne become immersed in a world of their own, Nicolas and Liz start to feel restless, abandoned. They know that the new painting will make a difference, and that things will never be the same between them and their loved ones. But can they do something? And will it be enough?
Of course, the answers to those questions don't really matter, and you will discover them soon enough if you watch this film. What is important, then? In my opinion, the director wants to show us the process of creation through the eyes of an artist and his model, and the hard choices that sometimes must sometimes be made in order to create a real work of art. Is it worth it? And how much of himself and others should the artist be willing to risk? Those are, from my point of view, the real questions that "La Belle Noiseuse" makes you ask yourself.
On the whole, I can say that I really liked this film, but that I don't recommend it for everybody. If you are just looking for an engaging movie that will entertaing you and make you laugh, "La Belle Noiseuse" is not for you. On the other hand, if you are in the mood for a relatively little known jewel that will amaze and disturb you, making you think, watch this dvd.
Belen Alcat
|
|
|
