Gang of Four

Rating:
Summary: Approach with caution
Review: There appears to be a story behind the making of this film, however, I was and remain unfamiliar with it - Rivette seems to be making a political point about political machinations, cover-ups, and the jailing of innocents. This being a release from the mediocre crew at Image Entertainment, there are no onscreen extras and no printed essays to give the viewer any clue as to the exact intentions of Rivette. What is more (or less), the transfer is poor, with a grainy digital image and thin sound - given there are few close-ups, the bad image quality continually intrudes as the actors facial expressions are difficult to discern.
*
Rivette proposes an unusual scenario - an acting class for young women, taught by a reclusive but once celebrated actress - into this matriarchal nest sneaks a man, at once a liar, a manipulator, and some kind of organ of the state, possibly a policeman, possibly a less accountable agent. Gradually his schemes are revealed, and the action here is counterpointed by scenes from a play the acting students are rehearsing - or, to be more accurate, counterpoint seems to be the idea, but it made little palpable impact on me.
*
As most of the actresses are quite young, there is the feeling that you are viewing a student film, a first feature at any rate. Some scenes have a disarming naturalness, but others are forced, and those calling for strong emotion feel weak and artificial. And the technical aspects of the film, in particular set design and sound, are uniformly lacklustre. Rivette certainly disdains conventional cinematic methods, but it is unclear that his alternatives are worthwhile.
*
It is hard tor recommend this film, although it does seem something of a worthy failure - Rivette has distanced himself deliberately and effectively from Hollywood cliches, and he has extracted reasonable, if not outstanding, performances from his cast - I'm not sure if any of the leads have gone on to greater things (I think not), but it was interesting to see a very young Irene Jacob in a very minor role
*
Of the other Rivette films I've seen, 'Wuthering Heights' is incomparably worse (one of the worst adaptations of any novel I've ever seen), while 'La Belle Noiseuse' is incomparably better, definitely ranking in a personal 'Top Twenty' films of all time.