Jean Renoir, The Boss: The Direction of Actors
Mar 03, 2007
Jacques Rivette, France, 1967, BetaSP, 97 min.
Sponsored by Center for West European Studies at The Henry M. Jackson School at U of W and Seattle Alliance Francaise
In 1966 Jacques Rivette made a three-part TV documentary titled JEAN RENOIR, THE BOSS, and its centerpiece, THE DIRECTION OF ACTORS, has rarely been seen since. A PORTRAIT OF MICHEL SIMON BY JEAN RENOIR, or A PORTRAIT OF JEAN RENOIR BY MICHEL SIMON, or THE DIRECTION OF ACTORS: DIALOGUE is a missing link key to understanding Rivette's work. It's a raw record of the after-dinner talk between one of the world's greatest directors and his greatest actor, both in their early seventies, punctuated by clips from the five films they worked on together—TIRE-AU-FLANC (1928), ON PURGE BÉBÉ (1931), LA CHIENNE (1931), BOUDU SAVED FROM DROWNING (1932) and TOSCA (1941).
It also includes occasional remarks by Rivette, the documentary’s producers, Janine Bazin and Andre S. Labarthe and the distinguished still photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson.