loading...
Va Savoir
2001
Director Jacques Rivette presents VA SAVOIR, a masterful piece of filmmaking that combines classic cinematic techniques with elements of the stage, resulting in a majestic and formidable film. A French theater actress, Camille (Jeanne Balibar), has been living in Italy for three years. She enjoys much success as working abroad .. Read more
| Starring | Jeanne Balibar, Sergio Castellitto, Marianne Basler, Jacques Bonnaffe |
|---|---|
| Director | Jacques Rivette |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
loading...
Va Savoir
Director Jacques Rivette presents VA SAVOIR, a masterful piece of filmmaking that combines classic cinematic techniques with elements of the stage, resulting in a majestic and formidable film. A French theater actress, Camille (Jeanne Balibar), has been living in Italy for three years. She enjoys much success as working abroad as a bilingual actress, and has fallen in love with her Italian co-star, Ugo (Sergio Castellito), who is also the director of her acting troop. But when Ugo announces that the play they're performing, AS YOU DESIRE ME by Luigi Pirandello, will tour to Paris, Camille responds with nervous confusion, and suddenly the past she left behind in Paris comes rushing back to her.
| Starring | Jeanne Balibar, Sergio Castellitto, Marianne Basler, Jacques Bonnaffe, Helene De Fougerolles, Bruno Todeschini |
|---|---|
| Director | Jacques Rivette |
| Studio | ARTIFICIAL EYE |
| Run time | DVD: 2 hrs 28 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: French |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 24 Jun 2002 Production year: 2001 |
| Format | DVD |
-
Critics' reviews (5)
View all -
Jacques Rivette — pioneer of the French New Wave — again demonstrates his skills as a director of nuance and pace in this gratifyingly literate charade. Set in present-day Paris, the old French master here explores the complicated love affairs that emerge between three men and three women during a theatrical troupe's production of Pirandello's As You Desire Me. No one puts a foot wrong in an exemplary ensemble cast that is headed by Jeanne Balibar and Sergio Castellitto. She plays an actress returning to Paris for the first time since leaving her longtime lover three years previously; he's the enamoured co-star and director who becomes less interested in the play as he tries to locate an obscure 18th-century manuscript that could make his fortune and reputation. As with his most renowned film, Céline and Julie Go Boating, Rivette's exploration of the relationship between art and life is so precisely staged and performed, it seems almost effortless.
-
Rivette revisits familiar ground with this leisurely tale of romantic intrigue and possibly dark deeds among members of... read more on Time Out
-
Most helpful member's review
View all -
18 out of 22 people found this review helpful
Extreme Tedium
A laboured attempt at a portraying the ennui and affected mild eccentricity so beloved of the French intelligensia. Poorly acted, without conviction or indeed much interest, the pace of this film was such that I considered turning it off within the first half hour and wished that the end would come throughout. It is not engaging, it is not thought provoking, it is not cool. This film failed on so many levels.
-
Most recent members' review
View all -
8 out of 8 people found this review helpful
A thoroughly intelligent, witty and wholly French affair
I knew next to nothing about 'Va Savoir' aside from the fact that critics were very divided about it - very few are of them are impartial and they either love it or hate. So it was - armed with this knowledge - that I approached 'Va Savoir' with a little trepidation. Admittedly, the film does take an awfully long time to get going and it wasn't until at least 30-45 minutes in that it hit its stride. Bear with it for this first bit and you will be richly rewarded. At times reminiscent of a Shakespearian drama, at others, perhaps Robert Altman's 'Short Cuts', 'Va Savoir' is a witty, dense, intelligent and convoluted film that should beguile. I loved the little asides and expressions of the characters and what is great is that the director gives the cast time to really explore their characters in depth. There is a naturalistic tone here and I also felt that Paris was as much a character in this film as the six leads. The plot is richly detailed, once you understand what is going on, and the writer should be applauded for constructing such a fascinating web. It could be argued that 'Va Savoir' is overlong but I believe there is also a three hour cut of the film available on DVD, significantly longer than this version. I believe that 'Va Savoir' is a perfect piece of French artistry, demonstrates that the French cinema is in rude good health, and surely deserves better praise than it's got. It is also one that you could easily return to again and again, and get something different from each time. I gave 4 stars merely for the fact that the editing could have been a little tighter, bringing down the length of the film and improving it somewhat. Either way, 'Va Savoir' is worthy of a 5.
-
More like this
View allShowing 1 to 4 of 20
