Noroît (Une Vengeance)

Pirates live in a castle by the sea. Giulia leads the group and most of the crew are women. Morag arrives there. Her brother was killed by this group and she has come to take revenge; she hides who she is and joins the crew. Other plans are running inside; those around Giulia have not agreed among themselves. As the narrative proceeds, who will do what to whom grows uncertain and a reckoning is prepared in the castle. Jacques Rivette directs. Geraldine Chaplin plays Morag and Bernadette Lafont plays Giulia; Kika Markham is also in the cast. The film is part of a four film project of Rivette's that was never finished; only two of them were made. The narrative's source is an English revenge tragedy; Rivette does not adapt the text directly but uses its lines within the scenes, and the actors speak some passages in English. What is most striking is the music; the musicians play inside the scene, in frame, and the characters pass beside them. Rivette's method rested largely on improvisation and the shooting order was decided day by day. The narrative does not try to produce tension; the plot is deliberately loose and the film proceeds in the air of a ceremony. It was long unshowable and became watchable only years later. Who it is for: viewers who like French art cinema and formal experiment. Who it is not for: the narrative is hard to follow, the pace very slow, and the film grants the viewer nothing.