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Céline and Julie Go Boating

Céline et Julie vont en bateau

Jacques Rivette · 1974

Synopsis

In Paris, Julie, a librarian with an orderly life, meets Céline, a conjuror, by chance. The two young women become friends and move in together. They soon discover an old house where the same melodrama is replayed every day, with its characters and its crime; magic sweets give them access to it, and, by going back again and again, they learn the story by heart.

Context

Rivette wrote the film with his performers, and Juliet Berto and Dominique Labourier are credited on the screenplay. The story of the house is inspired by Henry James, and Criterion presents the film as an adventure combining a haunted house, strange sweets and a criminal enigma. The main narrative, close to improvisation, contrasts with the tightly constructed plot played out in the house. Shot in sixteen millimetre, the film was restored from its original negative.

Who it is for

More than three hours; a free and playful film, which can be followed without trying to understand everything.

Prizes and reception

Criterion released it on Blu-ray in 2021, the film's first high-definition release in North America.

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