Friday, 5/30/97 New French cinema featured in L.A. courtesy of
Laemmle FILM: Series begins with Rivette’s ‘Up/Down/Fragile,’ which
joins theatrics of music, realism of daily life
By John Nein Daily Bruin Contributor Continuing their largely
unheralded but much appreciated effort to present new and unseen
work by filmmakers of both independent and international origin,
Laemmle Theaters opens a three-film series "Le Cinema Francais"
this evening with a new film from one of the most dynamic,
illustrious figures of the French New Wave and beyond, Jacques
Rivette. "Up/Down/Fragile," Rivette’s latest film, roams around for
about an hour or so before doing something so unexpected and
captivating that it would be utterly fiendish to give the surprise
away and deprive audiences of the pleasure of having it gently
cascade over them. The turn "Up/Down/Fragile" takes has to do with
what kind of film Rivette, superbly organic storyteller that he is,
thought to make about life in the modern world. It’s slightly
unusual to announce something as fundamental as the genre of one’s
film almost half way through the whole affair. Unusual, but lovely.
What appears to be a compelling but rather conventional character
piece about three women in Paris gracefully undergoes a colorful
metamorphosis, and the movie that flies away from the cocoon of the
first hour is something undeniably unique. "Up/Down/Fragile"
follows the arbitrarily intersecting lives of Louise (Marianne
Denicourt), who is recovering from a five-year coma; Ninon
(Nathalie Richard), a petty thief who flees trouble to start over
again as a motorped courier in Paris; and Ida (Laurence Cote), an
unassuming librarian in search of her mother. The nightclub which
eventually draws the three of them together acts as a subtle
narrator of sorts, pulling the themes and lives of each woman
together. As one of the songs suggests, life is about the memories
and the past that chases you or that you chase. Each woman contends
with that issue in differing ways, but Rivette’s style and camera
work are so sophisticated and fluid that there’s not even a hint of
false sentimentality. Every nuance of body movement is somehow
matched or countered by Christopher Pollack’s photography. And
without being overtly dopey in its tactics, "Up/Down/Fragile"’s
message is basically, "life is complicated, just dance." (which the
characters do with some regularity). The story was developed
through extensive rehearsals in which the three actors and Rivette
invented the characters. This style, which brought Mike Leigh
renown last year for "Secrets & Lies," once again displays an
incredible vitality, authenticity and ability to balance a
theatrical film style with real characters. Rivette makes three
very specific situations of three very specific characters
resoundingly universal by finding the simple elements that make
them human – they all communicate with each other – and he’s doing
it strictly through the visual style and tone of his work. "Up/
Down/Fragile" is two films, really: drama and fantasy. "Magical
Realism" has undergone so many critical convolutions that over time
it’s lost any sort of concrete definition. "Up/Down/ Fragile" makes
such a point of intertwining the theatricality of music and dance
with the realism of daily life, and so much that no other word but
"magical" conveys what a pleasure Rivette’s film turns out to be.
The festival continues next week with first-time director Laetitia
Masson’s romantic comedy, "To Have (Or Not)," about two young
people’s search for generational identity and meaning in life. The
film, photographed by Caroline Champetier ("Helas Pour Moi") drew
attention recently at the Berlin Film Festival, and Sandrin
Kilberlain’s performance in the film won her the 1995 Cesar Award
in France for the most promising actress of the year. Masson wrote
the script as well. She started her career as a camera assistant
for several directors, including Rivette (on "La Belle Noiseuse").
FILM: "Le Cinema Francais" series screens at the Laemmle Grand
4-plex in downtown Los Angeles at 345 S. Figueroa in the lower
level of the Sheraton Grande Hotel. "Up/Down/ Fragile" screens May
30-June 5, "To Have (or Not)" plays June 6-12.