Paris Belongs to Us
1961, Drama/Mystery and thriller, 2h 18m
14 Reviews 500+ RatingsYou might also like
Where to watch
Paris Belongs to Us Photos
Movie Info
Cast & Crew
Anne Goupil

Gerard Lenz

Terry Yordan
Philip Kaufman
Pierre Goupil
Critic Reviews for Paris Belongs to Us
All Critics (14) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (12) | Rotten (2)
-
Rivette's tightly wound images turn the ornate architecture of Paris into a labyrinth of intimate entanglements and apocalyptic menace; he evokes the fearsome mysteries beneath the surface ...
December 7, 2015 | Full Review… -
All this is overblown, making it pretentious, slow-moving and fairly confused. It takes much too long to tell its over-complicated story.
November 12, 2007 | Full Review… -
Rivette was perhaps more of a prognosticator than he realized, anticipating the downfall of the very movement he was involved in before it had effectively begun.
November 18, 2006 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review… -
By no means this great filmmaker's best, it's still an auspicious beginning.
June 24, 2006 | Full Review… -
This uncertain first feature from Jacques Rivette from 1961 grew on me -- but it took a while.
May 6, 2006 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review… -
Jacques Rivette's troubled and troubling account of Parisians in the late 50s remains in some ways the most intellectually and philosophically mature of them as well as one of the most beautiful.
January 1, 2000 | Full Review…
Audience Reviews for Paris Belongs to Us
-
Jul 29, 2014Filmed 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, 2008Jacques 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
Paris Belongs to Us (Paris Nous Appartient) Quotes
There are no approved quotes yet for this movie.
Movie & TV guides
About Tomatometer
The percentage of Approved Tomatometer Critics who have given this movie a positive review
About Audience Score
The percentage of users who rated this 3.5 stars or higher.
Verified