On a Emmanuelle Béart kick, I decide to rent this movie. It was recommended by Wilson, my cohort in Foreign/Indie films. Remember, this was before IMDB or Netflix. So it was not an easy movie to find. Without IMDB, it wasn't so easy to find all the movies that an Actress or Actor featured in. One would have to rely on a thick movie book that some video places carried. This book was in index produced maybe a couple times a year to update all the latest films and the actors in it. Funny enough, it was before DVD so I had to find a VCR to play this movie. I rented it at an indie movie rental place in Minn when I worked at the time.
Now, Wilson warned me that this movie was not a movie for everyone and it was actual quite tedious and SLLLOOOWWWW for some people. He wasn't kidding.
From Netflix:
An embittered French painter named Frenhofer (Michel Piccoli) hasn't painted in years, but he's inspired when he meets the lovely girlfriend of a guest in his chateau. Following his muse, Frenhofer decides to finish work on his long-neglected masterpiece, "La Belle Noiseuse." And his young model will do all she can to keep him focused. This film spans two discs; both discs will be shipped to you simultaneously.
Length:
128 minutes
Director:
Jacques Rivette
Cast:
Michel Piccoli
I dragged myself through this movie. I borrowed the condensed version and it was still painful to watch. I watched it only to see Ms. Beart play Marianne. She plays quite the conceited and self-absorbed young lady. She thinks she is the hottest stuff and demands the renowned painter to paint her portrait. He is known for painting what he truly sees in a person. Many of his patrons hate his completed work because he sees too truly and they can't handle his version of them. He even stops painting due to an incomplete portrait of his wife. He logic is that if it was completed, his wife would leave him.
Marianne believes fully that he will see her as she sees herself. And she flirts and tries hard to seduce him. All while her painter boyfriend is here and there with them. At one point, we see Ms. Beart fully naked. Sigh. I like her better with clothing on. Who knew her naked body would be so unappealing? Maybe it was a body double, doubtful.
The full length version is 4 long hours. It is like watching paint dry. We learn much about the muses and neurosis of an artiste. We also see the complex interactions between two people who challenge each other. While I did not truly enjoy the movie, I did like the ending where Marianne's fully exposed on the canvas. Whomever really painted the portrait did an excellent job of capturing Ms. Beart's character, Marianne. As we expected, she is not happy at all. It was a terrible rude awakening for her. She is so hurt by how Frenhofer really sees her. Buyer's remorse? Frenhofer does paint another painting on top of the original one. It is a kinder and gentler painting of Marianne. Only Frenhofer and Marianne know the truth.
This is a movie to watch when you are stuck in a snow storm for days and have a block of time to waste away. This is not a light hearted movie for everyone.
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