Re: 223 Le Pont du Nord
Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2026 5:37 am
I feel like Rivette is his own thing entirely. Loose, shaggy, improvisatory—very unlike the tightly controlled direction of a Melville, Chabrol, Becker, or most of Truffaut. I think Rivette was a fan of Cassavetes and Alan Rudolph, which seem like much better comparables than any of his French peers.
It probably makes me persona non grata around here, but I do not like Céline et Julie... This film feels fairly similar to that, but even more over-salted with whimsy. To me, it's just incessant chatter and nauseating handheld camerawork, with Pascale Ogier's wide-eyed pixie bit grating every one of my nerves.
I like La Belle Noiseuse quite a bit, but it feels to me very different from these two films: more constrained by location, small cast, long takes of drawing and painting. Very meditative. Beyond these, I've only seen Va savoir, so I'm not really qualified to say what a good entry point for his work would be. It's probably not this one, but it might also a good litmus test, too.
It probably makes me persona non grata around here, but I do not like Céline et Julie... This film feels fairly similar to that, but even more over-salted with whimsy. To me, it's just incessant chatter and nauseating handheld camerawork, with Pascale Ogier's wide-eyed pixie bit grating every one of my nerves.
I like La Belle Noiseuse quite a bit, but it feels to me very different from these two films: more constrained by location, small cast, long takes of drawing and painting. Very meditative. Beyond these, I've only seen Va savoir, so I'm not really qualified to say what a good entry point for his work would be. It's probably not this one, but it might also a good litmus test, too.