La Belle Noiseuse (1991)

Redundant and unnecessary.

Really Surprised!

Lack of good storyline.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

I claim that some films need to be watched while slowly getting drunk - like Jarmusch's Dead Man, or Rivette's 4 hour version of La Belle Noiseuse.This film is not afraid of art, which makes it stand out over most other films that have a similar subject. The filmmaker immerses himself into the process much like Frenhofer does. He is not scared to show the actual creating of a sketch, or the finding of a pose for the model.Rivette also captures the very particular lifestyle of Southern France, something that I feel is a bit endangered in today's economy dominated European Union.

...that it seems to be an unintentional ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) movie. In fact, if you access the ASMRlab HomePage, it cites one such trigger (to ASMR) as the painting of Bob Ross.Beart's stare is hypnotic. She rarely blinks. When she does 'blink' it becomes a slow and controlled event. Her stare works very well and no doubt plays a part in this calming mood that Rivette exploits so well.The drawing is never tedious. In fact I found myself marvelling at just how compelling such 'mundane' activity can be. I was drawn-in by its effect (every pun intended!)One of the movie's great oppositions is to place the emotional turmoil in both couples' lives against the almost hypnotic, soothing calm of the atelier where Frenho and Marianne are at work.Liz, Frenho's wife and prior muse (Marianne is set to topple her) paints a cross on the reverse frame of La Belle Noiseuse painting. Frehno walls up the painting, even after noticing the cross his wife has painted. It is like Propero breaking his staff, committing his art to posterity, to work no more.As Liz and Frehno lie abed, the full-moon projects the frame of the window - cross-like - on the wall: their bed has become a grave. Liz recalls having seen Frehno asleep in the studio: she had thought he was dead, and their life as lovers too.All these images of the cross and the grave leads us to ask: what is the moment of resurrection? Is it not Marianne seeing herself 'cold and dry' as LBN? Does she not then make a resolution to leave her dead self behind? And as she leaves, have not Liz and Frenho new life too? We have hope, perhaps...?Contradiction-wise, while gazing at the shooting-stars, Frenho asks Liz to make a wish. She says that she does not have the capacity to be surprised anymore. Then when Balthazar, Nicolas and the art-buyers turn- up, Liz realises that Frenho has switched paintings (as the LBN he intends to sell is not the LBN Liz placed the cross symbol on!) and she remarks that Frenho has surprised her ... hope indeed!

I mostly enjoyed the experience of watching this film. I had an afternoon to kill. It was snowy outside but it was warm cozy and quiet inside. I had the few days off before so I was in a relaxed and comfortable in my comfortable cozy house.It is about a middle-aged and financially comfortable "Artist" living in beautiful surroundings. He doesn't need to paint to earn a living and apparently he needs to do very little in general. He has the ability to spend long periods of time doing nothing but indulging in his art. When the screen is not filled with images of a beautiful naked girl, it is filled with images of the idealized self-imagine of the artist< or would-be artist, as "Artist". One cannot but help draw parallels with the director himself. At that point in his career, established, comfortable and few practical limits on his ability to wallow in his "art". Although it has all the props of artistry and we are left of believe the artist has suffered for his art, the end product is merely pretty with no real tension or original insight. This film is to cinema what Kenny G is to Jazz. If you are in the right mood, you may find it pleasant to have on in the background while reading a book.

This film is for your "right" brain. If you have the patience to be attentive throughout this extraordinarily long film (the nearly 4-hr version), you will absorb a glimpse into the "creative process." Not to be "hoity-toity" about this matter, but this is truly a masterpiece of a glimpse into the creative process of a great artist, his relationship with his subject, and the final disposition of the result of their collaboration.And he could have no better subject for his study of the human form than the ethereal physical perfection of Emmanuelle Béart - not to take anything away from her expertise as an actor.This is a contest - one to which both Piccoli and Béart are more than equal.Find the time. Sit back and relax. Get a drink or two, if you must. but PAY ATTENTION! Opportunities like this don't come along very often.