Virtually a lost treasure of the cinema, the French film “Out 1″ is a tour de force, but its 12-hour-and-40-minute length may be more reminiscent of the Tour de France.
This coming Saturday and Sunday, Westwood has the distinct honor of hosting what will be only the fourth North American screening of French filmmaker Jacques Rivette’s 1971 film.
Presented jointly by the UCLA Film and Television Archive and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the film will be screened over the course of two consecutive days at the Hammer Museum’s Billy Wilder Theater.
“Out 1″ is a complex mystery concealed as a drama; the story follows two theater groups rehearsing a show. Originally intended as a miniseries for French television, the work was found to be far too experimental by television executives at the time and rejected. Undeterred, Rivette resolved to show his work theatrically.
Even with Rivette’s determined efforts, “Out 1″ was seldom seen even in its country of origin, and had lain dormant for years until a recent restoration and the addition of subtitles by the British Film Institute. It has since been in sporadic circulation worldwide as a single highly treasured print that has traveled the globe.
“It’s existed more as a legend than as a reality for the last 35 years,” said David Pendleton, a programmer at the archive who was one of several involved in bringing the film to Los Angeles.
Structured as eight episodes running 90 to 100 minutes apiece, the work is being presented as part of LAFCA’s ongoing program, “The Films That Got Away.”
To accommodate the uniquely lengthy film, the screenings have been scheduled to run from 2 to 10 p.m. ““ with an hour-long dinner break factored in.
While the eight-hour length of each part may seem excessive, Pendleton was quick to articulate the necessity of the film’s runtime.
“I think the draw is that it’s a chance to have a cinematic experience unlike any other. The length of the film is actually an important part of the film itself,” Pendleton said. “In other words, it’s not just a stunt. It has to do with the experience of really taking the time to know these characters. It’s an epic in scope even though it’s all made up out of everyday occurrences.”
Respected film critic ““ and UCLA Daily Bruin alumnus ““ Robert Koehler of Variety and Cinema Scope magazines is one of many pleased at simply finding the revolutionary film on the big screen again.
“The fact is that the film is a frankly experimental narrative,” Koehler said. “As they say in Latin, it’s “˜sui generis’ ““ it’s without category. It doesn’t fit into any conventional slot either for television or for cinema.”
As one of the handful of American critics who have seen the film in its entirety and a member of LAFCA, Koehler will be providing introductions at each of the screenings.
Koehler describes the film as a pure product of its time, capturing the spirit of French counterculture in the ’60s like lightning in a bottle.
“The way it’s made it’s countercultural. It’s a counterculture movie in the whole way it’s fashioned. It couldn’t have been made at any other moment. It couldn’t have been made earlier, and it couldn’t have been made later. It’s very, very much a film of its moment,” Koehler said.
A gem of the groundbreaking French New Wave cinema, “Out 1″ is sure to influence filmmakers lucky enough to see it, though Koehler believes that the appeal of such a lengthy film extends beyond the realm of devout cinephiles.
“This is not the kind of movie that’s going to exhaust you by the time it’s over,” Koehler said.
“In fact, my experience with audiences watching this film has been that audiences go out on a high. It leaves you in a flurry of puzzlement and expectation of even more than has happened.”
Tickets for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity are $10 per day and available online on the archive’s Web site.
“This is the Los Angeles premiere (though) it was made 35 years ago, and it may be that long before it’s seen again,” Pendleton said.