O Bando Das Quatro

Perhaps another example of how whenever director Jacques Rivette goes too close to theatre things go rather pear shaped, in contrast to his better, more 'cinematic', creative, imaginative and sometimes fantastical films. With a screenplay written by Rivette, Pascal Bonitzer and Christine Laurent, this is unfortunately an example of the former, with it's long (2 and a half hours+), slow story, half of which seems to be taken up with boring rehearsal scenes in a theatre. Made in 1988, and set in Paris in late autumn, the plot concerns 4 young actresses living together and rehearsing a play under the demanding eye of an acting tutor called Constance Dumas (Bulle Ogier). In the meantime a 5th actress has moved out of the girl's suburban home and seemingly got herself involved in an obscure plot involving Basques, the Mafia, corruption scandals, incriminating papers and hidden keys. The false, contrived, put on histrionics of the theatre don't gel well with the unclear plot set in contemporary Paris, which isn't much more exciting due to a display of abstract dialogue XL (both on and off the stage).

"Thomas severely underestimates how fair play can be called forth by them, he may be smart enough to avoid the poisonous drink but ultimately he must pay heavily for his effrontery and macho complacency, and Rivette's undivided advocacy and exploration of sororal bond, solidarity and whims pays great dividends for reappraisal. Man is never those female characters's prime preoccupation, and each girl is designated with something brilliantly unsettling beneath a patina of normalcy, Claude's sexual confusion and symptoms of borderline manic depression, Anna harboring her own secret, Anna is not even her real name, Lucia's suicidal attempt, and Joyce's almost misandrist propensity will reach a violent crescendo. Also it is of note that the one who falls under Thomas's spell is none other than Claude, the fantods-bedeviled tomboy, sexual orientation is fluid, it is vulnerability gets exploited by the predator, that is Rivette's sagacious advice bequeathed to all womenfolk."

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In 1984, Jacques Rivette made "L' Amour Par Terre", another film exploring the connection between life and theater; "La Bande Des Quatre" (1989) also includes extended theater (rehearsal) scenes, but because they are not organically linked to the main story, they feel somewhat like filler. The film works best as a celebration of female friendship & solidarity, and Rivette does conjure up some suspense near the end. His obsession with trains also comes through clearly. This one is mostly for his die-hard fans. **1/2 out of 4.

Gang of Four is my first Rivette, so I cannot comment on how classically structured it is as opposed to experimental, because I have yet to see Rivette's experimental work, yet I read from a Chicago critic, Chicago being the city wherein I discovered Rivette, that this is an ideal introduction to his work because it is more of a compilation of the themes that are typically abound in his films, such as theater, conspiracy, sexual frustration, female camaraderie, and things of that nature.

I was not thrilled and yearning for more, but I was interested in what Rivette tries to do enough to want to see some of his other films, even La Belle Noiseuse, a four-and-a-half- hour film with only two people in one room. What I liked about Gang of Four was how the four main characters, the girls in the acting class who share a small house together, have a way of turning everything into a dramatization of things as their alternative to such a packed in environment that is squeezed progressively tighter by the mysterious man and the ambiguously existent conspiracy he speaks of.

The reason I don't have much else to say is because Rivette's direction seems too static somehow, but there is intrigue in his style and in his stories. I found the film interesting and dull at the same time. Perhaps it's my fault and I was expecting a different sort of film-making than what the movie was made of.

With the exception of Julie & Celine Go Boating, Rivette's films are not well known in this country, and therein is quite a loss. This is a very complicated story of student-roomates whose ordinary lives threaten to shatter their ordinary lives. Love, betrayal, the arts, sexuality, criminal behavior and trust are a few of the many themes that permeate the slowly developing action. The entire film is visually gorgeous and challenging, especially the shots from the elevated subway, which provide not only enlightment and whimsey, but also prefigure the escalating actions and surprises of the slowly moving plots. The young actresses are quite good, especially Laurence Cote, whom some may know from her role in Les Voleurs, a very fine film by Andre Techine. There is no easy way into Rivette's excellent films. Most of them are slow to develop and far from obvious. But all of them are deeply rewarding, warrant numerous repeat screenings, and Gang of Four is no exception.