Out 1, noli me tangere

If Alexanderplatz is the "Mt. Everest of films" then Out 1 has to be the K9. Lesser in size but much more trying to get through. It has lulls of course, sometimes long ones, but overall it manages to be rather intriguing. I liked it but I'll be damned if I ever watch it again.

Viewed January 13 to January 17. The great cinematic monolith, impenetrable, a bewildering puzzle just begging to be solved. Assign life a mystery to give it meaning; become yourself through playing a part. Counterculture, deception, paranoia: Paris. The beauty of this film is in the way its paranoia consumes you, and your mind begins to work overtime to decode every moment. I genuinely became unaware of which parts of the film actually happened and which parts took place only in my head.

Both the peaks and the deep troughs of improvisation are on display at length here. The indirect exploration of the collapse of the ideals and strategies of May '68 is not without interest, but for this viewer the proceedings only really come to life in the more focused, cooler, less hysterical scenes between the conspirators played by Jean Bouise, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and especially Françoise Fabian. While it may have been a noble experiment, the overall conclusion is that it didn't work.

now that i have seen this twice i can say: it's truly riveting!

You have put your trust in Rivette, as about half the first chapter is taken up with a Living Theatre exercise that tries the patience. After that, it gradually builds on its strengths to claim a place among my favourite films.

theatre and conspiracy, theatre and conspiracy. i knew from the first crazy improvisation scene that i was going to love this. the immeasurable range of human expression performed by the actors is incredible, and many of the characters are just so damn cuddly! ?

"An extended anthropological discourse, a dissection of the dashed dreams and hopes of a counterculture destroying itself from within due to a misunderstood threat from without." - Keith Uhlich

I don't know, I think once you get past the hype created by the film's long-time scarcity and formidable length, what we're essentially left with is a compendium of bad improv theater exercises with some intermittently intriguing stuff (generally involving Berto or especially Leaud) thrown in once and a while. The most frustrating part is there's probably a pretty good regular length movie buried in here somewhere. But i think maybe what Rivette and i value as filmgoers is just wildly different?

It's just immensely satisfying, watching all these threads slowly converge, and I'm a huge sucker for a powerful unseen character pulling all the strings. The electric charge you get when Thomas suddenly, off-handedly mentions Lilli; when you see Colin walk into the background of another plot; when you're wondering, who was that who handed him the note? Some TV show producers need to watch and take notes (minus the patience-testing acting exercises, bien sûr). I think David Lynch probably did.

Only rating the first 2 episodes for the time being. Holy shit this is exactly what the French New Wave is; french people looking chique and showing irreverence for hours on end only for everyone to copy them

This is over 700 minutes long, for all the amazing reviews I expected a lot more from the 1st hour than endless acting exercises. Don't know how anyone could be expected to sit through this much nonsense to get to the "good stuff" whatever that is. Between this and Bertulucci's Partner I'm pretty sure I maybe just hate The Theatre

While this is not a masterpiece, it is evidently a crucial stage in the development of a master film maker (building on and towards Rivette's other films). It is an impressive feat of experimental film making; the way in which actors feel their way in this ‘world' of theatre and mystery through verbal and gestural articulations, making possible the emergence of a circular narrative. Perhaps the true value of this film to cinema is most reasonably judged in the context of Rivette's oeuvre.

The first episode feels like it is actively attempting to alienate the audience, but if you make it through that you'll probably make it through the whole thing. It's the definition of a slow burn, and the ultimate payoff is not quite worth the time invested, but it's filled with remarkable performances and character development. While I didn't really LIKE any of the characters, the length of time spent with them in mundane-ish settings makes them feel extremely real.

A vast experimental improvised unfolding of the elusiveness of meaning. Strangely engaging, but utterly barmy and pretty pointless