Paris Belongs to Us

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Cast & Crew

Betty Schneider
Anne Goupil

Gianni Esposito
Gerard Lenz

Françoise Prévost
Terry Yordan

Daniel Crohem
Philip Kaufman

François Maistre
Pierre Goupil

Brigitte Juslin

Jacques Rivette
Director

Jacques Rivette
Screenwriter

Jean Gruault
Screenwriter

Roland Nonin
Producer

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Critic Reviews for Paris Belongs to Us

Audience Reviews for Paris Belongs to Us

• Jul 29, 2014

  Filmed over the course of three years, and considered as one of the pioneering efforts in the Nouvelle Vague, Rivette's absorbing debut is a mystery film that refuses to be conventional, even if the three-year time span rises some inconsistencies to the surface. Since the very beginning, Rivette asks us to make a leap of faith. What is introduced as a suicide slowly escalates into the investigation of an international conspiracy, where the lives of a group of Spaniards seems to be in danger. The style alone and the events discussed, even if misunderstood for a considerable amount of time during the first half, are interesting enough thanks to the performances and some impressionistic glances at the city of Paris interacting with this bunch of mysterious souls. Nothing is as clear as it seems, and yet, you want to keep figuring out more. In this sense, Betty Schneider's character, Anne Goupil, becomes the easiest one to empathize with. The rest of the characters are strange Hitchcockian derivatives with unclear and maybe paranoiac personal issues. Beyond the performances and how events are presented in fragments, which may frustrate some viewers as it takes a lot of time to explain those pieces of story, the style is the one that keeps your eyes glued to the screen. For a debut, it is an interesting effort, showing close-ups and wide vistas of Paris as if it wasn't a first directorial effort. Ironically, the film presents this conspiracy plot with a theatrical backdrop, where a key character directs a play adaptation of Shakespeare's Pericles, maybe signaling some possible past, present or future tragedy, with the intensity of classic Greek theater. This brings me to mention the parallelism between the scenes of the play and how overtly theatrical the performances are by the actors in the movie, maybe intentionally(?), which I found something difficult to grasp given the seriousness and scope of imagined-vs.real paranoia and international conspiracies. Although the effort is uneven and unnecessarily time-consuming - unlike the other gigantic films by Rivette in terms of running time - and it doesn't always consummate its entire web of secondary subplots and malevolent intentions, <i>Paris Is Ours</i> is an interesting exercise in style and the mystery genre with good performances, experienced visuals and a film that transmits that Paris, indeed, doesn't belong to anyone. 75/100 P.S. Be on the lookout for cameos by Rivette himself, Chabrol, Demy, and finally Godard, the latter ridiculously attempting to be as cool-looking as the cameo of Melville in his debut <i>Breathless</i> (1960). Godard simply cannot feel confident without a pair of shades...
  Edgar C Super Reviewer
• Aug 30, 2008

  Jacques Rivette's first feature was filmed over the course of three years which goes to explaining some of the inconsistencies. At the heart of the plot is some sort of mystery/conspiracy, but we the audience never find out what exactly it is the characters are talking about. Though we never find out what is going on, the dialogue and goings on between each character never fail to keep your interest. This added with the experimental jazz style score makes a strange almost surreal film. Look out for cameos by Rivette, Claude Chabrol, Jacques Demy and a fabulous appearance by Jean-Luc Godard.
  Emily B Super Reviewer

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