Céline et Julie vont en bateau (1974)
Directed by Jacques Rivette

Film Review

Despite its length at over three hours, this is one of French New Wave director Jacques Rivette's most popular films, and even today it retains a strong cult following.  The film's distinguishing points are its bewildering, almost Buñuelesque, surrealism, widespread use of improvisation (a common feature of the New Wave films) and a tireless sense of outlandish fun. Along with the director's subsequent Duelle (une quarantaine) (1976) and Merry-Go-Round (1981), it is one of Rivette's most mystical and beguiling films.

Rivette takes an evident delight in puzzling his audience with his story within a story, which he shows out of sequence and repeatedly from various angles, creating something which resembles a vicious parody of the whodunnit genre. Around this central strand, he employs a number of other devices to hook the viewer and create some background to the characters Céline and Julie, who are brilliantly played by Juliet Berto and Dominique Labourier.

A possible flaw with this film is that it contains just too many ideas, most of which are not developed enough to be fully satisfying.  Rivette has a tendency to dwell too long on a particular theme and then to suddenly move on to something very different rather than attempting to create a more even flow.  This feature of Rivette's cinema is certainly evident in this film.  Whilst some viewers will doubtless feel that this adds to the charm of the film, others may find the film unwatchable as a consequence.

Film Synopsis

It is in a park in Paris that Julie, a shy librarian, first makes the acquaintance of Céline, a stage magician.  Intrigued by the other woman, Julie follows her around the city until she loses sight of her.  They meet up again and, despite their differences, they agree to live together in Julie's apartment.  Céline likes to tell tall stories and recalls a strange experience she had when she once came across a boarded up old house in a quiet part of Paris.  Intrigued by what she has heard, Julie also pays a visit to the same house and has exactly the same set of experiences.  The two women end up making repeated trips to an alternative universe where they are the housemaid to a wealthy widower, Olivier, and the two mysterious women he lives with - Sophie and Camille.  It seems that both of these women are madly in love with Olivier but he cannot marry either of them because he has made a solemn vow to his wife on her deathbed that he would remain single whilst his daughter was still alive.  When they learn, to their horror, that Olivier's eight-year-old daughter has been killed, Céline and Julie decide to investigate the murder...