http://celinejulie.wordpress.com/2007/07/13/the-beauty-of-rivettes-endings/
This is my reply:
Thank you very much for pointing out about the reference to Rivette’s small audience. I haven’t thought about it before.
Sometimes I think I’m not being fair to VA SAVOIR. I think VA SAVOIR is a very good film, but because it is directed by Rivette, I tend to look at it as “half-empty” (just ‘very good’, but not ‘masterpiece’). But if VA SAVOIR is directed by someone else, I might look at it as “half-full”.
I’m not a film critic, and I judge everything according to my own personal whims. According to my personal tastes, VA SAVOIR is my least favorite of Rivette’s films, but I haven’t seen many films by Rivette yet.
Jacques Rivette’s films in my preferential order:
1.CELINE AND JULIE GO BOATING (1984, A+)
2.UP DOWN FRAGILE (1995, A+)
3.LA BELLE NOISEUSE (1991, A+)
4.GANG OF FOUR (1988, A+)
5.WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1985, A+)
6.SECRET DEFENSE (1998, A+)
7.VA SAVOIR (2001, A)
I think this film lacks some kind of MAGIC I often found in Rivette’s films.
I also saw LE PONT DU NORD (1981), but it was shown without English subtitles, so I don’t know how much I really like it.
The DVDs of PARIS BELONGS TO US (1960), JOAN THE MAID (1994), and THE HISTORY OF MARIE & JULIEN (2003) are available in Bangkok, but I haven’t watched them yet.
--I can’t guess why Rivette made that kind of ending for VA SAVOIR. Yes, it may be because of commercial appeal. Or maybe he wanted to try something different. Or maybe he thought it is the most appropriate ending for this kind of film.
Though I may not love the ending of VA SAVOIR, I have to confess I can’t come up with a better idea on how to end this film.
--Talking with you about VA SAVOIR inspires me to watch the ending of this film again. I found that when I watched this ending for the second time, I like it more than the first time I watched it in 2003. I think it maybe because I know beforehand what the ending will be, so I don’t have false expectation for it.
I think I also have to agree with what A.O. Scott in the New York Times wrote about this film. He wrote that it is resolved with the verve and precision of classic screwball comedy.
What A.O. Scott wrote also can help me guess why I didn’t like this ending the first time I saw it. I think it is because I’m not fond of the kind of “RESOLVED” ending. I prefer unresolved ending. And I think it is because I’m not familiar with classic screwball comedy. I have seen very few classical Hollywood films.
--The ‘resolved’ ending in VA SAVOIR also reminds me of the kind of endings in some Shakespeare’s plays, such as in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST, or A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, when couples are united or something like that. I think I’m not fond of this kind of ending. I tend to prefer the ending in which couples are separated or tragic endings. Hahaha.
I don’t know why I hate happy endings in some films, but love happy endings in other films. The super-happy ending that I really hate is the happy ending in ZATOICHI (2003, Takeshi Kitano, B+), but the super-happy endings that I really love is the ending in CROCODILE DUNDEE (1986, Peter Faiman) and BLUE MOON (2002, Andrea Maria Dusl, Austria, A+).
--I think the DUEL scene between the two guys in VA SAVOIR is quite original. I haven’t seen this kind of scene before. It also reminds me of a scene in UP DOWN FRAGILE, in which Marianne Denicourt is lured to a high place to shoot someone. These two scenes begin with the expectation that someone might be killed, or some sinister things might happen. But both scenes end with very good feelings instead. Maybe this is a kind of Rivette’s touch. Watching these two scenes makes me not surprised why Rivette seems to hate A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, according to his interview in SENSES OF CINEMA.
--I also have to thank you for inspiring me to watch the ending of VA SAVOIR again, because this time I have noticed something I overlooked the first time I saw it. This time I discovered that MARIANNE BASLER also stars in VA SAVOIR. I didn’t pay attention to Marianne Basler at all the first time I saw this film. I was more attracted to Jeanne Balibar and Helene de Fougerolles. But earlier this year I saw GESPENSTER (2005, Christian Petzold, Germany, A+), and Marianne Basler gave a terrific performance in it. GESPENSTER makes Marianne Basler unforgettable to me, but I still didn’t realize that I had seen her before in VA SAVOIR, until this morning when I watched VA SAVOIR again.
This is a photo of Marianne Basler in VA, PETITE! (2002, Alain Guesnier) from http://www.allocine.fr/
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1175/834017931_b65b2b4d4d_o.jpg
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