Movies

Jacques Rivette’s feature debut is one of the foundational, though often overlooked, films of the French New Wave. Although filming began in 1958 with the help of colleagues such as Truffaut and Chabrol, the film was not completed until after their celebrated debuts. The plot centres on a literature student who becomes embroiled in a circle of bohemian intellectuals and artists through her brother. The main plot revolves around the mysterious suicide of a Spanish composer named Juan and a director's attempts to stage Shakespeare's play Pericles.

The film is characterised by Cold War paranoia and a pervasive sense of an elusive global conspiracy. Rivette employs elements of the detective thriller, but deconstructs them: the investigation does not lead to clear answers, but rather to metaphysical anxiety.

Key features of the film include the depiction of Paris as a labyrinth. Paris is not merely a backdrop, but a mysterious space that reflects the characters’ inner disorientation. Other features include metatextuality, with a constant interplay between the rehearsal of a play and 'real' life, and a sense of collective spirit, including cameo appearances by Jean-Luc Godard and Claude Chabrol.

Significant as the most intellectually mature early work of the movement, the film explores the boundaries between art, politics, and personal obsession.