''La Belle Noiseuse'' (, ) is a 1991

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film directed by

Jacques Rivette Jacques Rivette (; 1 March 1928 – 29 January 2016) was a French film director and film critic most commonly associated with the French New Wave and the film magazine ''Cahiers du Cinéma''. He made twenty-nine films, including '' L'amour fou ...

and starring

Michel Piccoli Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli (27 December 1925 – 12 May 2020) was a French actor, producer and film director with a career spanning 70 years. He was lauded as one of the greatest French character actors of his generation who played a wide vari ...

Jane Birkin Jane Mallory Birkin, OBE (born 14 December 1946) is an English-French singer and actress. She attained international fame and notability for her decade-long musical and romantic partnership with Serge Gainsbourg. She also had a prolific career a ...

and

Emmanuelle Béart Emmanuelle Béart (born 14 August 1963)
''Tecinema.jeuxactu.com''. Retrieved 21 April 2020. is a F ...

. Loosely adapted from the 1831 short story '' Le Chef-d'œuvre inconnu'' (''The Unknown Masterpiece'') by

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...

, and set in present-day France, it tells how a famous old artist is stimulated to come out of retirement and do one last painting of a beautiful young woman. The film won the Grand Prix at the

1991 Cannes Film Festival The 44th Cannes Film Festival was held from 9 to 20 May 1991. The Palme d'Or went to ''Barton Fink'' by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. The festival opened with ''Homicide'', directed by David Mamet and closed with ''Thelma & Louise'', directed by Rid ...

Plot

A young would-be artist Nicolas, with his partner Marianne, are introduced by the art dealer Porbus to the aged painter Frenhofer, inactive for many years, who lives in a grand château in the south of France with his young wife Liz. Conversations are desultory, until Porbus suggests that Frenhofer might like to paint the attractive Marianne, he thinks she may be what he needs to complete his last piece, abandoned ten years ago when Liz was his model. Nicolas okays the idea, but Marianne becomes angry with Nicolas for not having asked her first before promising the master that she will model, but goes to the château the next day. Work starts early next morning in Frenhofer's isolated studio, consisting of continual pen and wash studies on paper of Marianne in different positions, as he tries to capture the uniqueness of her body and the character of the woman within it. Over long days together their relationship varies, sometimes staying distant and sometimes getting relaxed. He progresses to working in oils on canvas, one day overpainting an unfinished study of Liz. When she sneaks into the studio one night and sees it, she is furious and hurt at the symbolism. As the object of Frenhofer's concentrated attention all day, mostly in silence, Marianne has time to rethink her relationship with Nicolas and decides she no longer needs him. Eventually Frenhofer finishes his picture, which the film audience never sees. Once complete, the image is too powerful for Liz and for Marianne. Frenhofer hides it in a recess, which he seals with bricks and mortar, and quickly paints an innocuous version in which the face of the model is unseen. Porbus is invited to a celebratory party, after which Nicolas and the changed Marianne go their separate ways.

Cast

as Édouard Frenhofer *

as Liz Frenhofer *

Emmanuelle Béart Emmanuelle Béart (born 14 August 1963)
''Tecinema.jeuxactu.com''. Retrieved 21 April 2020. is a F ...

as Marianne * as Nicolas Wartel *

Marianne Denicourt Marianne Denicourt (née Cuau; born 14 May 1963) is a French actress, director and screenwriter who has appeared in more than 50 films and television productions since 1986. She studied under Patrice Chéreau in 1985-86 at the Ecole du Thé� ...

as Julienne Wartel, Nicolas' sister * as Porbus * Bernard Dufour as the painter's hand

Reception

The film won the Grand Prix at the

. The film received critical acclaim, and occasioned much comment on Béart's extensive onscreen nudity and director Rivette's characteristic use of a long running time (almost four hours). ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicag ...

'' film critic

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

added the film to his

Great Movies ''The Great Movies'' is the name of several publications, both online and in print, from the film critic Roger Ebert. The object was, as Ebert put it, to "make a tour of the landmarks of the first century of cinema." ''The Great Movies'' was pu ...

collection in April 2009. The film holds an approval rating of 100% on review aggregator site

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

based on 29 reviews, with a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

of 8.08/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "A sensual and hypnotic masterpiece, ''La Belle Noiseuse'' luxuriates in its four-hour run time while holding audience attention."

Alternative version

Rivette used alternative takes from the film and made changes in the scene order to produce a shorter, 125-minute version, ''La Belle Noiseuse: Divertimento'', for television. This version was also released theatrically in some countries.

References

External links