La Belle Noiseuse

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La Belle Noiseuse is a thrilling and unconventional drama about the responsibility of an artist to his vision and the conflicts that arise when such responsibility is perceived as a threat to others. Michel Piccoli (Le Doulos) delivers one of his finest, most lived-in performances as Edouard Frenhofer, a famous painter living with his artist wife Liz (Jane Birkin) on a spacious estate in the French countryside. Frenhofer has lacked inspiration for a decade and has given up on painting. The idea behind his unfinished masterpiece, La Belle Noiseuse ("The Beautiful Troublemaker"), has been seemingly unattainable for a decade; Liz was the original model for it, and Frenhofer's exhaustion with the project has an emotional parallel to his dispassionate relationship with her.

Along comes a rising artist, Nicolas (David Bursztein), who suggests that his girlfriend, Marianne (Emmanuelle Béart), a writer, could help Frenhofer jumpstart the painting's completion. From this point, most of La Belle Noiseuse becomes a remarkable, seemingly unedited and privileged look at the development of a bond between artist and muse. Béart, fiercely brilliant, spends the majority of the film nude and continually molded into sometimes-painful positions as Frenhofer struggles--sketch after sketch, paint upon paint--to find something beyond the obviousness of Marianne's body. As the two struggle to meet each other halfway, Liz and Nicolas feel marginalized and jealous, putting pressure on Frenhofer to disregard such personal concerns or give in to them. Adapted by French New Wave master Jacques Rivette from a story by Honore de Balzac, the lengthy La Belle Noiseuse is fascinated by the artistic process; it is itself a patient process of watching ideas and aesthetic courage reveal themselves in the face of extraneous aversion. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

La Belle Noiseuse.......2007-07-13

Rivette's extraordinary drama about a famous artist who feels his well of talent has dried up examines the mysteries and passions that attend the artistic process, and the obsessive intimacy that often develops between painter and model. In a role that demanded a solid, mature, weighty presence, Piccoli is magnificent as Edouard, while Beart is simply ravishing in an equally demanding, robust performance. Expertly and patiently directed by Rivette, who homes in on the mundane details of creating a masterly artwork--the painstaking applications of ink and oil, the methodical refinement of technique--"Noiseuse" is, quite simply, an enthralling experience. If a four hour viewing time deters you, by all means watch it in two parts.

"He wanted to paint me because he loved me. He stopped painting me because he loved me".......2007-02-26

"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 Béart), 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

One of the most sumptuous and powerful films about art ever made!.......2007-01-17

Jacques Rivette's sublime masterpiece deals with the exploration of the artistic process in terms of its exploitation for destructiveness and its transcendent power. Here we have the confrontation of an inactive painter, and a model, where we will witness the initial antagonism through a true escalade of wary hostility, driving one each other to dangerous limits.

This film deserved the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

"Rivette? Who is Jacques Rivette?" He's a great filmmaker, that's who..........2006-12-17

The French New Wave is justifiably famous in cinema circles, schools, etc.. It is still talked about today. When they mention the filmmakers that came from that school of filmmaking, they mention Jean-Luc Godard, Eric Rohmer, and Francois Truffault. Rarely, if ever, do they mention Jacques Rivette. When a friend of mine asked me my favorite French directors, I said Robert Bresson, Jean-Luc Godard, and Jacques Rivette. My friend said "Rivette?" Jacques Rivette's films stand out from any other French filmmaker of his time. The other French New Wave filmmakers were prolific, whereas Rivette would make a film every few years. Rivette's films are generally very long (the most extreme example being the film Out 1, which runs 12 1/2 hours, his other films run on average 3-4 hours), and concern themselves with the artistic process. This is a 4 hour film (slightly longer than most Rivette films, but not the longest), but it unfolds magisterially and beautifully. I saw it in a theater (with an intermission), and I was entralled. It is one of Rivette's best films, and one that really shows the agony of artistic creation. Creating art is a long and arduous process. Kubrick compared his art, filmmaking, to trying to write War and Peace in a bumpy car ride, but when you've finished, it's an amazing feeling. Its pacing is very slow and leisurely, but there isn't anything wrong with that. I didn't feel bored, and I didn't feel that the film needed to be cut. It's perfect the way it is. The title is translated "a pretty nuisance", for those who are curious. This film really captures that. On a completely unrelated sidenote, I remember seeing this film with 2 couples in front of me. The women liked it, but the men were bored out of their minds. One kept shifting his head back and forth throughout the whole thing. The men were probably just hoping to get laid afterwards, so that's why they went to see it. You should really only see this film if you're a committed art cinema person. Luckily, I am. This is one of Rivette's best films, and he's a filmmaker that deserves to be better known.

Artists and Models.......2006-10-21

After living with this film for 15 years, it seems to me that the best description of its theme comes in the words of the character Liz (Jane Birkin), who in context is speaking of the work of her husband, the painter Frenhofer. According to her, it concerns something "shameful--it's not the body that is shameful, not the nudity, but something else . . ."

That "something else" is a violation, existentially speaking, of the enigma of the painter's model. Such a violation cannot be seen without the mediation of art. In a cinematic context, it is the risk the direction takes whenever it approaches its subject frontally, and we can see Rivette's tendency to retreat to wide shots, to place events off-screen, or to circle behind his players. Is this a critique of Bresson, who insisted on calling his players "models" rather than "actors?" (It is impossible not to recall the storied psychological scars Bresson's methods allegedly left on his players. ) It is clearly not that simple, for there are close-ups in NOISEUSE that seem to be as cruel to the actors as Frenhofer is to his model.

This goes beyond Bresson in other ways: Rivette, always the reader, has patched together a thumping good story from literary sources ranging from Poe to Balzac to James, and in the process has created a true mystery thriller. That the mystery hinges on four-minute shots of a hand scratching out a drawing makes it no less thrilling. It tumbles forward toward a profoundly ironic ending worthy of the best James novels.

The initial critical take on this film was that it was the most thorough document of the artistic process ever committed to film. Well, yes and no. It seems to be about the artistic process of a painter, but I think there may be a playful game of "bait-and-switch" afoot. Watch Béart. Watch, especially, Piccoli, who is a veritable encyclopedia of the actor's art, as mesmerizing in his scudding, absent-minded movements as he is in his sudden precision, always surprising. Rivette's devotion to actors is clear in all his films: think of his sets, so resembling stages with their creaky boards, a sound "effect" in Rivette that more often than not takes the place of score.

It may be that the artist of canvas, plaster, stone, or screen may reveal something secret, even shameful, in his models. It may even be that the unscrupulous artist is a thief of the soul. But Rivette, for one, shows in LA BELLE NOISEUSE that he has given these things some serious thought. And he is always generous to his actors. The result is that the trust between artist and model demonstrated in this film amounts to a strong rebuke to the idea that film cannot show thought. It can; it comes at a price, but in the hands of a master it can be as great a gift to the players as it is to the audience.

La Belle noiseuse (The Beautiful Troublemaker) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ]

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La Belle noiseuse (The Beautiful Troublemaker) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ]
Director: Jacques Rivette
Manufacturer: Accent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000LQMVU0

Product Description

Australia released, PAL/Region 4 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: French (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Subtitles), SYNOPSIS: In this fascinating and unconventional examination of the creative process, an artist near the end of his career finds new inspiration in a young model. Edouard Frenhofer (Michel Piccoli) is a famous and well-respected artist who lives in a comfortable estate in the French countryside. At the age of 60, Frenhofer considers his career as a painter to be over; he says he no longer feels any inspiration to create, and his last attempt at a major work, a nude study of his wife Liz (Jane Birkin) called "La Belle Noiseuse" (The Beautiful Nuisance), has sat unfinished for ten years. Just as Frenhofer has lost his enthusiasm for his art, he has also lost his passion for Liz; their relationship is polite and friendly, but without enthusiasm. When Frenhofer tells Nicolas (David Bursztein), his young protégé, that he no longer feels the desire to paint, Nicolas suggests that he needs a more inspiring subject, and he offers his girlfriend Marianne (Emmanuelle Béart) as a model. Frenhofer is taken with Marianne's beauty, and, with Liz's cool approval, he and Marianne spend several arduous sessions together, exchanging ideas and opinions as Frenhofer methodically attempts to create a final masterpiece. While La Belle Noiseuse runs 240 minutes, director Jacques Rivette also prepared an alternate version, La Belle Noiseuse - Divertimento, which runs 120 minutes, features a different framing sequence, and incorporates takes unused in the original cut. SPECIAL FEATURES: Uncut, Trailer(s), Interactive Menu, Filmographies, Cast/Crew Interview(s),

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La Belle Noiseuse
"He wanted to paint me because he loved me. He stopped painting me because he loved me"
One of the most sumptuous and powerful films about art ever made!
"Rivette? Who is Jacques Rivette?" He's a great filmmaker, that's who...
Artists and Models

La Belle noiseuse [Region 2]
Starring: Michel Piccoli , Jane Birkin , Emmanuelle Béart , Marianne Denicourt , and David Bursztein
Director: Jacques Rivette
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000096KEH

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Customer Reviews:

La Belle Noiseuse.......2007-07-13

"He wanted to paint me because he loved me. He stopped painting me because he loved me".......2007-02-26

One of the most sumptuous and powerful films about art ever made!.......2007-01-17

"Rivette? Who is Jacques Rivette?" He's a great filmmaker, that's who..........2006-12-17

Artists and Models.......2006-10-21

Average customer rating:

Gare de l'Estrogen

La Belle noiseuse [Region 2]

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00006BSP2

Customer Reviews:

Gare de l'Estrogen.......2007-06-25

Note: this is a review of LA BANDE DES QUATRE, now out of print in Region 1. Of the other films in this set, I have reviewed LA BELLE NOISEUSE elsewhere on this site. As for the set itself, caveat emptor. Most DVDs released in France do not offer English subtitles. If your French is up to it, though, I can vouch for all the films as excellent, except HURLEVENT, which is of little interest. Now, GANG OF FOUR:

The humming of train rails, followed by the sound of a passing train, accompanies the credit sequence of GANG OF FOUR. There will be many shots from inside and outside trains over the next 2½ hours. At one end of the line is a Parisian acting academy for young women; at the other end is a suburban house where four of the actresses live.

This world, populated almost entirely of women, is overseen by Constance Dumas (Bulle Ogier), the founder and sole instructor of the academy. At one time there were boys, as well, but they have long since been phased out. Now the theatre, painted entirely red like a giant womb, is "girls only." When men do enter the story, they arrive as interlopers and leave a path of destruction wherever they set foot.

With few exceptions, Rivette's films are about conspiracies. Or they are, rather, about the need for conspiracies, perhaps. A world without order is enough to drive one mad--and, as Rivette's CAHIERS colleague, Eric Rohmer, said in one film, "One can't think of nothing." In GANG OF FOUR, the conspiracy is never spelled out. We end the film knowing only what it may have been.

As for the four housemates, they are approached individually by a man who identifies himself differently each time. He could be a cop, he could be an arms dealer, or he could be a garden-variety grifter. It may not matter. He is a man, and as such he cannot grasp that the housemates are not subject to his idea of motive and action.

With rehearsal for THE DOUBLE INCONSTANCY playing out in the background, there are criss-crossing plots involving at least four characters with multiple identities (Constance, Anna, Claude and Thomas), as well as two characters with the same first and last name--not to mention a phony mugging, two real murders, a bottle of poison, and a ghost. Of all Rivette's later films, this plays like an all-girl version of his first feature, PARIS NOUS APPARTIENT. It is all-the-more focused for its use of gender themes. Well-supplied with facial expressions that go offscreen with no explanation, references to Marivaux and Euripides, a surprising reversal of sexual preference, and a shocking resolution, GANG OF FOUR is a comedic tragedy whose mystery lingers long after the final curtain.

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