La Belle Noiseuse on DVD (1991)

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steve from didsbury , 07/10/2004

This was probably a very intelligent film, but (despite being as sharp as a tack) it went over my head somewhat and frankly I wasn't about to devote another 4 hours of my life to trying to work it out.

Basic story is that pretty girl (headcase)'s boyfriend (upcoming artist) decide that she should pose in the buff for an old, talented artist. Many hours of film pass with him doodling away and her contorting herself. As an adolescent, I would have particularly enjoyed the abundance of minge and norks, but alas now I have moved on to more graphic things.

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Definately an aquired taste

Dave Lawrie from Hull, England , 20/02/2005

La Belle Noiseuse is a movie about art and obsession. It is incredibly long and very slow, so avoid it if you are into action or cannot sit through something for more than half an hour. Still here?

Well, there are sequences in this film that are literally 20mins long and all you see in that time is a stylus scratching on paper. The slow process of art is lovingly filmed in long takes as you literally see a drawing take shape in front of your eyes, only for it to be screwed up and for the artist to start again after a pain-stakingly slow half hour shot. This type of film will bore most people but excite some who can understand its achievements. I was one of those people. If you are not, I wouldnt bother with it, you'll hate it.

Still here?

Its in french with subtitles.

Still here?

Good, give it a go then.

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Not for everyone

lizzard1138 from Yorkshire , 03/02/2004

La Belle Noiseuse isn’t one of those all time classics that you would recommend to anyone. The first thing you will notice is that it’s particularly long – well over four hours in fact (including an intermission). This isn’t in itself a wholly bad thing, as films such as Peter Jackson’s "Lord of the Rings" have proved that modern audiences are willing to far outstay a typical running time of about two hours, but whereas Peter Jackson’s epics carry you along at an unimaginable pace and are filled with character and plot development, "La Belle Noiseuse" does very little at all. You will perhaps enjoy the film most if you are especially interested in art, or more particularly, the long process of sketching and drawing art, which is present here with virtually no cuts. Although interesting, the actual drama involving the artists and their partners is far more compelling, which is placed here almost as an afterthought. It is easy to see why the camera dwells on the painting as this is a film about an artist struggling to make his long-forgotten masterpiece and we are invited to share the painful, at times hopeless journey, but it feels unnecessary at times, even boring, and the result is French cinema at its most stereotypical. I would recommend watching Jacques Rivette’s next project, "Diveritimento", instead, which is comprised completely of outtakes from this film and runs at a more bearable two hours.

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Demanding, but rewarding...

A customer from Scotland , 18/01/2005

A strange, haunting and sometimes difficult film, La Belle Noiseuse is really about the creative act.

We're treated to long sections in which the artist is shown to be working out his strategy for the painting, or throwing out old ideas that don't work out.

And yet the film as a whole works! It's a hugely demanding, but also very rewarding film to watch. Emmanuelle Beart has nothing to do except pose, mostly naked, and she does that exceptionally well. But the focus is on the artist, and the end of the film (without giving anything away) is both satisfying and dramatically effective.

Nothing could be further from Hollywood, and if that's a problem, then choose another film. If you like your cinema to be thoughtful, innovative and enlightening, La Belle Noiseuse is a minor masterpiece.

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Customer Review

A customer from UK , 23/06/2008

...literally, and very slowly.

I love France and, let's face it, anything said in French sounds better than the same thing said in any other language.

So this film looked and sounded great, and with the quality of actors and the sheer unusualness of the story, this film should have been brilliant.

But if there is a downside to French culture, it's a tendency towards pretentiousness, and this film exhibits that by the bucketload.

With a bit of decent editing, this film could and should have been no more than 80 to 90 minutes - but instead, it spread over 2 dvds, and by the end of disc 1 I was struggling to stay awake.

Thank the lord for rental, because I would have been gutted if I'd bought this.

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Good looking but what a marathon!

Minimart from Merseyside , 04/10/2004

I defy anyone to watch this without occasionally hitting the fast forward button. At nearly 4 hours, it's otherwise a bit of an endurance test.

Having said that it's worth the effort. It's art house by definition, beautifully constructed, and with great performances from the three main leads, including complete sections on the construction of the portraits. And what better model than Emmanuel Beart!

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