Part of our Masters: Jacques Rivette series.
Directed by Jacques Rivette | France | 141 mins
Paris Belongs to Us (1961), Rivette’s debut feature, begins with a key piece of puckish counterpoint in the form of an epigraph from Charles Péguy: “Paris belongs to no one.” A long and winding tale of theatre, conspiracy, and the Sphinx-like city of Paris herself, the story primarily follows Anne Goupil (Betty Schneider), a new arrival to the city who, having innocently attended a conspicuously solemn party, becomes involved with a vast network of people various degrees of shady who may or may not have something to do with what may or may not have been the suicide of somebody named Juan. Anne subsequently meets up with an old friend from the provinces (noted New Wave mainstay Jean-Claude Brialy) who conscripts her into a bare-bones experimental production of Shakespeare’s not-especially-popular Pericles, Prince of Tyre, sinister forces continuing their shadow show on the periphery. Is there an actual conspiracy? The body count would appear to be rising, but, in the words of critic and essayist Luc Sante, “you will not arrive at a decipherable code.” As for Anne: she at least appears to have a future.
In her book on Rivette for University of Illinois Press (the sole notable study of the director’s oeuvre written in English thus far), scholar Mary M. Wiles addresses Rivette’s feature debut as a work directly engaging art-making practices in an increasingly paranoid postwar context. “In its concurrent classical and cold war conspiracy scenarios, the film draws an implicit parallel between antiquity and the contemporary world, between theater and cinema, between the dramaturge and the film director, and in this way re-presents the quotidian world of postwar Paris with the force of ancient ritual.” The labyrinthine city becomes a playground for criminals, artists, and protean beings like in the early serials of Louis Feuillade (such as 1913’s Fantômas and 1915’s Les vampires). Influenced by new experimental methodologies being employed at the Théâtre National Populaire, Rivette has set out the establish collective rites or rituals—performative and transformative—as a potential mode of resistance in a world where the power of corporations and states operates pervasively but in a manner increasingly invisible or opaque. Suzanne Schiffman, credited here as “dialogue coach,” will go on to be a regular and intimate Rivette collaborator, serving as co-writer on the twelve-hour Out 1 (1971), the film that takes the template initiated with Paris Belongs to Us and pursues it to its outermost extremities.
-Written by Jason Wierzba
Please read our COVID-19 Guidelines and Info page before planning your visit!
Community Partner: University of Calgary Film Society
The University of Calgary Film Society holds weekly screenings every Friday throughout the fall and winter semester semesters. Screenings are free for members. This is a great opportunity to view and discuss some great movies, and to get acquainted with others who share an interest in film.
In the spirit of respect, reciprocity and truth, we honour and acknowledge that this screening takes place on Moh’kinsstis and the traditional Treaty 7 territory, as well as the oral practices of the Blackfoot confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations. We acknowledge that this territory is home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3 within the historical Northwest Métis homeland. Finally, we acknowledge all Nations, Indigenous and non, who live, work and play, as well as help steward this land, honour and celebrate this territory.