Customer Reviews

Celine and Julie Go Boating [VHS]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jacques Rivette has always been a director of rather acquired taste but if you have an open mind and are willing to let the amazing imagery flow over you, seeing this film will literally be like stepping through the looking glass. It is as close to actual magic, not just illusions, as I've seen on the big screen. Despite its length, and this is true of most of Rivette's films, the film is enchanting and entertaining, puzzling but also audacious in its invention. It runs on dream logic and you need not crack it in order to enjoy it. The events flow forward, backward, sometimes repeating themselves as the characters appear to be caught in some bizarre web, reminding me of some of the later Bunuel films where they are trapped in an unending dinner party or go in search of food yet never accomplishing to eat it - but unlike Bunuel, Rivette's film is more of a play on itself than poking fun at the bourgeoisie, breaking down the nature of film (its reality, a la Philip K. Dick) and the art of cinema.

In any event, with perhaps the exception of "La Belle Noiseuse", a classic of more accessible and traditional nature, this film is the best way of entering Rivette's body of work. And if you just allow it, you'll be trapped within for good. It's a good place to be.

Rivette fans are by now familiar with David Thomson's comparison of this movie to CITIZEN KANE, and the reference is apt: if CITIZEN KANE is world cinema's equivalent of Newtonian physics, then CÉLINE ET JULIE VONT EN BATEAU is its string theory.

The IMDb characterizes this as a film in which the actors were allowed to "go wild" with improvisation, and that is more than a little misleading. All of Rivette's scripts lean heavily on literary or theatrical sources, and in CÉLINE the only difference is that each of five contributors brought his or her own favorite books to the party. The amazing thing is that everything meshes into one of the most delightful and enigmatic films ever produced. The works of Lewis Carroll are common to all collaborators; Rivette structured the period melodrama on Henry James' novel THE OTHER HOUSE, whereas Ogier admits on disc two that she improvised very little, taking her dialogue from an unnamed second "novel" by James. (This is actually a short story, "The Romance of Certain Old Clothes.") Labourier enriched the script with an apparent familiarity with Papus' writings on the Tarot, on Dreams, and on "practical magic." Perhaps most entertaining, though, is Berto's use of Blaise Cendrars, who had a Münchhausen-like tendency to embellish his many "memoirs." The comic strip adventures of BÉCASSINE are also a likely source for Berto, who would go on to write and direct other projects in her tragically brief lifetime.

When this does finally get released for English-speaking audiences, I hope the subtitles are better than the wretchedly inadequate ones that exist on current film and videotape copies. There is so much hilarious wordplay in Berto's dialogue, virtually none of which was caught by the original subtitler. There are also entire sentences that went untranslated, and many of these are in the long opening act--far from being an irrelevant part of the film, it sets up and foreshadows much of what will subsequently be played out. In fact, this is a lovingly crafted film from beginning to end, and I wouldn't give up a single frame of it for all the "well-paced" films of Hollywood. Every passing year brings more prestige to this movie, and one can only hope that somebody is hard at work clearing whatever hurtles have kept it out of Region 1. It may yet turn out to be the best movie ever made.

Note (2/16/09): This is now available with subtitles, from amazon.co.uk (Region 2, still), in the BFI series. Very nice print from the full-frame 16mm original, but the subtitles are still incomplete and sometimes unreliable.

Halfway through CELINE AND JULIE GO BOATING my opening line for this review would have been something like this; "a drawn out, poorly photographed mish-mash of uninspired surrealistic images. However, gradually as the film drew me further into its unescapable web, I began to realize that the films images weren't uninspired, they were simply detached, in the logic of a dream. True to that statement, CELINE AND JULIE is the most realistic demonstration of a dream state I have ever witnessed. It is drawn out, but it's also meditative, not to mention fascinating, and strangely, as in dreams, realistic. Gradually you don't notice the irrationality, like a dream you simply feed off its aestheics. And as the "swiss cheese" plot begins to fill in, your excitment grows as you long for a better understanding. Now, Freuds will no doubt aply their psuedo-symbolism to a film such as CELINE AND JULIE, I myself find it to be a film about a search for inner childhood (notice the "haunted house" plot is the womens attempts to rescue a small girl). It is a film that demonstrates the way imagination gives our lives a needed purpose.

I saw this film about a month ago at the local cinematheque. About eighty minutes into it I discretely looked at my watch and was dismayed by the realization that the movie wasn't even half over. Celine and Julie go boating? There hadn't been a body of water, let alone a boat, in sight thus far. Where was this bizarre story with scenes being repeated over and over again going, and when was it going to end? I'm a patient film viewer but this was too much. A number of film critics, whose opinions I usually respect, have practically built religions around their appreciation of this film. I asked myself if this could just be a case of the "emperor's new clothes"? Almost two hours later it was over and I emerged from the theatre thinking I could have seen two real cinematic masterpieces in the time I'd wasted on Rivette's film...But somehow it wasn't really over. The effect of the film lingered. It wasn't just some intellectual riddle I needed to grapple with, the film had got under my skin. Scenes kept replaying themselves in my head like a strange dream. Their rhythm was unlike anything I'd encountered before. Celine and Julie just never conformed to any of my expectations - and neither had Jacques Rivette. In two separate scenes in the film Celine and Julie each present themselves to men, who unwittingly think they are meeting the other woman. In each case the two women completely subvert the men's worlds, playfully poking holes in their rigid conventionality. Through the whole film, Rivette was doing the same thing with me. Everything about the film, from its "plot" to its subtle manipulation of reality to its pacing forces you to let go of your expectations (or be miserable trying to hold on to them). You have to relate to the film on its own level, like you might with a child. Only then can you enjoy it. I don't exactly know why the film had such an effect on me but it says something about its power that over a month later I'm still thinking about it.

In the last few days I've had this growing urge to see "Celine and Julie Go Boating" again. The ideal circumstance for a first encounter with it is definitely in a theatre or you might just end up turning it off. Now that I've crossed that Rubicon I wish it was available on a region 0 or 1 DVD so I could waste another three plus hours.

PLEASE lower the price.

Everyone should at least have access to this classic.

It is not as well known as it should be. It deserves better, and most important it deserves to be on my collection, so PLEASE lower the price.

And if there's any justice, CRITERION please take note.

Praised by the critics as "delicate , mysterious, and exiting", "an original and entertaining metaphor for film-watching and, perhaps, film history", and named "The most radical and delightful narrative film since Citizen Kane! The experience of a lifetime" by New York's critic David Thompson, "Celine and Julie Go Boating" (1974) is all of the above but first of all it is incredible fun to watch. This magic candy of a movie tells the story (or rather plays with the story) of two friends, Julie, a librarian and Celine, a magician. The film starts one sunny summer day in Paris when Julie follows running through the park and losing her stuff all over (a scarf, a shoe...) Celine exactly like another girl in the English country side one sunny summer day had followed a White Rabbit into a world of her imagination. Two girls became friends and soon with the help of a magic memory-inducing candy, they both will be the observers and participants in a bizarre soap-opera like drama that takes place in a mysterious house. It involves two stunningly beautiful women, a blonde and a brunette, who are in love with the same man. The man is a widower with a young daughter who had promised his wife that he would not remarry as long as their daughter is alive. When the blonde and the brunette become desperate enough to try to do something about the situation, it is up to Julie and Celine to come up with the plan and to rescue the young girl. Will they go boating? Well, you will have to stay with them for all 193 minutes to find out. Yes, Rivette takes his time but his movie never seems slow or boring. Playful yet complicated, mad and funny, "Celine and Julie" is a magic movie. It grabbed me from the opening scene - which is of course the opening chapter of "Alice in Wonderland" - and it never let go. Buniel would love this movie, I think. It also reminds me of "Mullholand Dr" and even "Persona" but in the absolutely different mode. Simply DELIGHTFUL.

This is a marvellous offering from Jacques Rivette. It's a bit long at 192 minutes, but has a surreal childish charm running through it. A playful and enjoyable tale of two women who become friends, and by eating magic candy, discover a house where four ghostly characters (plus Celine & Julie) act out another film. They sit there watching themsleves within the other story, even changing into each other in a split second while talking to a man in the other story. It's a wonderfully surreal look at two women's friendship and playful freedom.

This disjointed, sugary, and intriguing gem needs the Criterion treatment! I was lucky to see this rare one in a film series at a local museum. While not for the impatient spoon-fed Hollywood viewer, it slowly unravels the story of identity for both Celine and Julie. Once the viewer is acquainted with these two captivating ladies, there is another mystery to unravel... the story within the strange house. This one will have you talking long after the credits roll! Did you like Bunuel's "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie?" Or did you enjoy David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive?" Do you like films that make your brain sweat a little bit!? Well, come on and give this a try. If you have seen this, send an email to the folks at Criterion Co website and prod them (and yes, I have!) to make this wonderful film a "Criterion."

Beautiful, enchanting romp through mysterious settings with two lovely young women. This film enbodies the fantasies of youth for romance and intrigue. A sensual immersion well worth the time. You'll want to visit again and again.

I can't stop evangelizing for this movie. In the U.S., it has a couple of heavyweight critics who continue to champion it, but for reasons given below, it doesn't seem likely to get the credit it deserves any time soon. That is no reason not to see it.

Since I have previously commented on the all-French version of this film (before BFI picked it up), I'll limit my comments to the BFI package on offer here. If you're interested in the literary sources for the film, go to Celine and Julie Go Boating [Region 2], and you'll find the fruits of my research there.

First, this is a gorgeous, beautifully saturated rendering of the 16mm (!) full-frame original. On the minus side, BFI has kept the same miserably inadequate subtitles that have appeared on all prior film and VHS versions. Without some knowledge of French, you'd never know that this is a wonderful melange of nonsense words, rhymed parodic verse, street slang and (whenever we enter the mysterious house) Alexandrine blank verse, such as is found in Classical French Theatre. There will also be times when people are talking and no subtitles at all are given.

This is most detrimental to the beginning of the film: the scene in the library, the Mad Tea Party, the discussion of practical magic . . . these things take up about an hour, and could begin to feel irrelevant. They are not. I'm begging you--stay with this! If I may say this about one of the finest films ever made: subtitles be damned, the last ¾ of the movie is an absolute hoot!

As for the double-disc BFI package: hmm. Disc 2 has a dry recounting of Rivette's career by a Jonathan Romney, plus a short by Alain Resnais (!?) and a 2 min. silent short. Compare this with the all-French version, which had informative interviews with Dominique Labourier, Bulle Ogier, and others. I don't know how these things work, but couldn't they have just subtitled the French extras?

In spite of all--and I can't stress this enough--if you had a chance to see one of seven wonders of the ancient world, and it was partially in ruins, wouldn't you go anyway? In the meantime, pray for a good translation for Region 1. If it ever gets here. (Hint: check Amazon.co.uk. You may be able to buy a new copy cheaper than getting this used on this site. They now have a feature that automatically converts pounds to dollars at checkout, before you've finalized your purchase.)