Anna Karina
- Actor
- Singer
- Filmmaker
- +1
Collaborated with · 1966
Rivette directed Karina in his 1966 adaptation of Diderot's The Nun, the film banned by French censors before its release.
- Filmmaker
- Critic
Jacques Rivette
The most experimental of the Cahiers du cinéma directors. Rivette made films built on theatre, improvisation, and unusual length — from Paris Belongs to Us to the thirteen-hour Out 1 and Celine and Julie Go Boating.
In images
Details
- 1928–2016
- 1 March 1928
- Rouen, France
- 29 January 2016
- Paris, France
- French
- FilmmakerCritic
About Jacques Rivette
Jacques Rivette was the most experimental of the Cahiers du cinéma critics who became the French New Wave. He edited the magazine from 1963 to 1965, and as a director pursued theatre, rehearsal, and improvisation across films of unusual length, including the roughly thirteen-hour Out 1.
His feature debut, Paris Belongs to Us, was begun in the late 1950s and finished only with help from his friends Truffaut and Chabrol. Over five decades he built a body of work admired more by critics and other filmmakers than by a wide public, from Celine and Julie Go Boating to the late La Belle Noiseuse. He died in Paris in 2016.
From criticism to the camera
Rivette came from Rouen to Paris and threw himself into film more completely than almost anyone in his circle. He wrote for Éric Rohmer's La Gazette du cinéma and then for Cahiers du cinéma, and in 1963 succeeded Rohmer as its editor-in-chief, steering the magazine toward politics and modern thought before leaving the post in 1965.
His first feature, Paris Belongs to Us, was shot over several years on almost no money and released in 1961. It reached the screen only because François Truffaut's company, Les Films du Carrosse, and Claude Chabrol's Ajym Films helped finish it; Jean-Luc Godard appears in a brief cameo. Its story of a theatre troupe rehearsing a doomed production, shadowed by a vague conspiracy, set the pattern for much of his later work.
The banned film
In 1966 Rivette adapted Diderot's novel The Nun, with Anna Karina as a young woman forced into a convent against her will. French authorities banned it before release, and the ban became a public fight over censorship that reached the government. The film was eventually allowed to open, and the affair marked Rivette as a director willing to provoke the state.
Duration and improvisation
From the late 1960s Rivette made the films he is now known for, built on rehearsal and chance rather than a fixed script. L'Amour fou (1969) ran over four hours; Out 1 (1971) ran roughly thirteen, and was almost never shown at full length. Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974), lighter and more playful, followed two women into a haunted house and became his most loved film.
Theatre runs through all of it. Actors rehearse, plays fail to open, and the line between performance and life keeps blurring. Rivette let scenes find their own length, which is why his films ask more time and patience than most, and why other directors return to them.
Late recognition
He reached his widest audience late. La Belle Noiseuse (1991), a nearly four-hour film about a painter, his model, and an unfinished canvas, won the Grand Prix at Cannes; Va savoir (2001) was warmly received. Among the New Wave directors Rivette remained the least commercial and the most admired within the art, a filmmaker other filmmakers study.
Life events
Born on 1 March in Rouen, in Normandy.
Writes for Rohmer's La Gazette du cinéma, then joins Cahiers du cinéma.
Paris Belongs to Us is released, finished with help from Truffaut and Chabrol.
Succeeds Rohmer as editor-in-chief of Cahiers du cinéma, a post he holds until 1965.
The Nun, with Anna Karina, is banned by French censors, setting off a public fight over censorship.
L'Amour fou, running over four hours.
Out 1, roughly thirteen hours long and rarely screened complete.
Celine and Julie Go Boating, his most beloved film.
La Belle Noiseuse wins the Grand Prix at Cannes.
Dies in Paris on 29 January, at eighty-seven.
People they knew
François Truffaut
- Filmmaker
- Critic
- Actor
Collaborated with · 1961
Truffaut's production company, Les Films du Carrosse, helped finish Rivette's long-delayed debut Paris Belongs to Us, released in 1961. The two were part of the Cahiers du cinéma circle together.
Jean-Luc Godard
- Filmmaker
- Critic
Collaborated with · 1961
Godard appears in a cameo in Rivette's debut Paris Belongs to Us (1961). Both wrote for Cahiers du cinéma and belonged to the circle of critics who became the New Wave.
Éric Rohmer
- Filmmaker
- Critic
Collaborated with · 1950
Rivette wrote for Rohmer's La Gazette du cinéma in 1950 and worked alongside him at Cahiers du cinéma, where he succeeded Rohmer as editor-in-chief in 1963.
Who they drew from
Jean Renoir
Among the young Cahiers critics who canonized Renoir, Rivette went furthest: in 1967 he directed a Cinéastes de notre temps program filming Renoir and Michel Simon in conversation — the disciple documenting the master at length.
Movements
Film movement · c. 1958–1968
The French New Wave
One of the core Cahiers du cinéma critics who made the New Wave, and its most experimental director. Rivette edited the magazine from 1963 to 1965; his 1961 debut Paris Belongs to Us was among the movement's first features.
Questions about Jacques Rivette
Who was Jacques Rivette?
A French film director and critic, born in 1928. He was one of the Cahiers du cinéma writers who made the French New Wave, edited the magazine from 1963 to 1965, and became the movement's most experimental director, known for long films built on theatre and improvisation. He died in 2016.
Was Jacques Rivette part of the French New Wave?
Yes. He was one of the core Cahiers du cinéma critics — with Godard, Truffaut, Chabrol, and Rohmer — who turned from writing to directing. His 1961 debut, Paris Belongs to Us, was among the first New Wave features, and his friends Truffaut and Chabrol helped him finish it.
What is Jacques Rivette's most famous film?
Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974) is his most loved, and La Belle Noiseuse (1991), winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes, reached the widest audience. Out 1 (1971), running roughly thirteen hours, is his most legendary among cinephiles.
Why are Jacques Rivette's films so long?
Rivette built his films from rehearsal, improvisation, and real time rather than a tight script, and let scenes run to their natural length. L'Amour fou runs over four hours and Out 1 about thirteen, which is why his work asks unusual patience and is often seen in pieces.
Why was Rivette's film The Nun banned?
His 1966 adaptation of Diderot's The Nun, starring Anna Karina, showed a young woman forced into a convent and treated harshly there. French authorities banned it before release; the ban became a public dispute over censorship, and the film was allowed to open only afterward.
How was Rivette different from the other New Wave directors?
He was the most experimental and the least commercial. Where the others made films for a broad public, Rivette pursued theatre, conspiracy, and extreme length, building a body of work admired above all by critics and other filmmakers.
Sourced claims
Associated with · 1961
The French New Wave
One of the core Cahiers du cinéma critics who made the New Wave, and its most experimental director. Rivette edited the magazine from 1963 to 1965; his 1961 debut Paris Belongs to Us was among the movement's first features.
Collaborated with · 1966
Anna Karina
Rivette directed Karina in his 1966 adaptation of Diderot's The Nun, the film banned by French censors before its release.
Collaborated with · 1961
François Truffaut
Truffaut's production company, Les Films du Carrosse, helped finish Rivette's long-delayed debut Paris Belongs to Us, released in 1961. The two were part of the Cahiers du cinéma circle together.
Collaborated with · 1961
Jean-Luc Godard
Godard appears in a cameo in Rivette's debut Paris Belongs to Us (1961). Both wrote for Cahiers du cinéma and belonged to the circle of critics who became the New Wave.
Collaborated with · 1950
Éric Rohmer
Rivette wrote for Rohmer's La Gazette du cinéma in 1950 and worked alongside him at Cahiers du cinéma, where he succeeded Rohmer as editor-in-chief in 1963.
Influenced by
Jean Renoir
Among the young Cahiers critics who canonized Renoir, Rivette went furthest: in 1967 he directed a Cinéastes de notre temps program filming Renoir and Michel Simon in conversation — the disciple documenting the master at length.