Noroît

The traditional Rivette enthusiasm for theater is very noticeable here, and in this film, the theatrical elements are even more valuable than the cinematic ones. The story itself is quite boring in terms of content and storytelling style, essentially definable as a description of intrigues and revenge in the court of a "Great Woman." However, the somewhat uninteresting hidden struggle between two women (also filmed in ahistorical low-cost art sets) fortunately includes the interaction of theatrical art, which is strongest in moments when it is relatively free from the plot itself and finds its purpose within itself - for example, the movement scenes, rehearsals of theatrical performances, dramatic readings of original Tudor texts, etc. The film is also divided into five acts, following the pattern of dramas, and is further divided into a number of oddly combined chapters (for example, Act I: 1; followed by I: 2,3 - I: 4; then I: 5,6,7,8,9 x Act II: 1,2 - II: 3,4,5). I did not understand the system, but at least there was something to think about when the plot did not stimulate any intellectual activity. Although it does not work out exactly, it seemed to me that the number after the slash indicates the number of characters that appear in a given scene (at least for a certain prevailing time) on the screen, and the nominal value of the numbers only signifies their order in the current act. But perhaps this is nonsense. If someone knows the answer, please write to me, thank you. (13.10.2014)