Paris Belongs to Us
Encyclopedia
Paris Belongs to Us is a 1960 French mystery film
directed by Jacques Rivette
and starring Betty Schneider. Begun in 1957 and completed three years later, it was then-critic Rivette's first full-length film as a director and one of the first works of the French New Wave
, though it was not released theatrically until 1961.
The plot centres around a group of actors rehearsing Shakespeare's Pericles
for a performance that never happens. The film operates as a depiction of bohemian Parisian life in the late 1950s, framed in a frightening world-view coloured by anxiety and fatigue, paranoia and disillusionment.
Like fellow Cahiers du cinéma
critic Eric Rohmer
, Rivette did not find popularity with his early films and, unlike many of his New Wave compatriots, he remained at Cahiers for most of the core New Wave era (1958–1968) and completed only two other features during the period.
The film features cameos by fellow New Wave directors Claude Chabrol
(who co-produced the film), Jean-Luc Godard
, Jacques Demy
and Rivette himself.
Writing in the film journal Senses of Cinema
, critic Hamish Ford said of the film: "...for me at least, his debut feature is a perfect film in its way. If the first work of a long career should, at least in the oeuvre-charting rear-vision mirror, offer an appropriately characteristic or even perhaps idiosyncratic entry point into a distinct film-world, then Paris nous appartient is indeed a perfect 'first' Rivette in its combination of formal daring and conceptual elusiveness."
Mystery film
Mystery film is a sub-genre of the more general category of crime film and at times the thriller genre. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of a crime by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction.The...
directed by Jacques Rivette
Jacques Rivette
Jacques Rivette is a French film director. His most well known films include Celine and Julie Go Boating, La Belle Noiseuse and the cult film Out 1....
and starring Betty Schneider. Begun in 1957 and completed three years later, it was then-critic Rivette's first full-length film as a director and one of the first works of the French New Wave
French New Wave
The New Wave was a blanket term coined by critics for a group of French filmmakers of the late 1950s and 1960s, influenced by Italian Neorealism and classical Hollywood cinema. Although never a formally organized movement, the New Wave filmmakers were linked by their self-conscious rejection of...
, though it was not released theatrically until 1961.
The plot centres around a group of actors rehearsing Shakespeare's Pericles
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Pericles, Prince of Tyre is a Jacobean play written at least in part by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected works despite questions over its authorship, as it was not included in the First Folio...
for a performance that never happens. The film operates as a depiction of bohemian Parisian life in the late 1950s, framed in a frightening world-view coloured by anxiety and fatigue, paranoia and disillusionment.
Like fellow Cahiers du cinéma
Cahiers du cinéma
Cahiers du Cinéma is an influential French film magazine founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca. It developed from the earlier magazine Revue du Cinéma involving members of two Paris film clubs — Objectif 49 and...
critic Eric Rohmer
Éric Rohmer
Éric Rohmer was a French film director, film critic, journalist, novelist, screenwriter and teacher. A figure in the post-war New Wave cinema, he was a former editor of Cahiers du cinéma....
, Rivette did not find popularity with his early films and, unlike many of his New Wave compatriots, he remained at Cahiers for most of the core New Wave era (1958–1968) and completed only two other features during the period.
The film features cameos by fellow New Wave directors Claude Chabrol
Claude Chabrol
Claude Chabrol was a French film director, a member of the French New Wave group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s...
(who co-produced the film), Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
, Jacques Demy
Jacques Demy
Jacques Demy was one of the most approachable filmmakers to appear in the wake of the French New Wave. Uninterested in the formal experimentation of Alain Resnais, or the political agitation of Jean-Luc Godard, Demy instead created a self-contained fantasy world closer to that of François...
and Rivette himself.
Writing in the film journal Senses of Cinema
Senses of Cinema
Senses of Cinema is a quarterly online film magazine founded in 1999 by filmmaker Bill Mousoulis. Based in Melbourne, Australia, Senses of Cinema publishes work by film critics from all over the world, including critical essays, career overviews of the works of key directors, and coverage of many...
, critic Hamish Ford said of the film: "...for me at least, his debut feature is a perfect film in its way. If the first work of a long career should, at least in the oeuvre-charting rear-vision mirror, offer an appropriately characteristic or even perhaps idiosyncratic entry point into a distinct film-world, then Paris nous appartient is indeed a perfect 'first' Rivette in its combination of formal daring and conceptual elusiveness."
Cast
- Betty Schneider - Anne Goupil
- Giani EspositoGiani EspositoGiani Esposito was a Belgian film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1951 and 1973.He was born in Etterbeek, Belgium and died in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris, France.-Selected filmography:* Black Dossier...
- Gerard Lenz - Françoise Prévost - Terry Yordan
- Daniel Crohem - Philip Kaufman
- François MaistreFrançois MaistreFrançois Maistre is a French actor. He's appeared in nearly 100 films between 1960 and 2003.He was born in Demigny, Saône-et-Loire, France.-Selected filmography:* Les Jeux de l'amour * Paris Belongs to Us...
- Pierre Goupil - Jean-Claude BrialyJean-Claude BrialyJean-Claude Brialy – died 30 May 2007, Monthyon, Seine-et-Marne, France was a French actor, director, and socialite.-Biography:...
- Jean-Marc