jcjs333 Elitist porn i suppose. Acting is mediocre and it's all contrived and silly. Typical French cinema. Italians are warm and smart and this is cold and dumb. An aging artist getting his kicks out of being sullen and uninteresting. The aging artist has a wife who used to pose for him and they almost split up over it. Big deal! They all sit around eating or hanging out when not doing the art naked bit. The conversations are as stilted and boring as anything i've heard. French mumbo jumbo yakking and yakking and yakking about 'nothing of any importance. They have a tone in their voice as if to say their talking is important and it's as trite as can be. There's no substance or plot. I think i could have liked it if it were 90 minutes long. But, even 90 of this is too much. Whether his art is 'good' or 'bad' is irrelevant. Everyone is an 'artist' i some way. Just slow pretentious talking going nowhere. 80% of the film is just scratching paper. I guess were supposed to think this is 'the artists process' which is ridiculous since all artists work different. There is no humor anywhere in the nearly 4 hours. I can't recall one ounce of humor or levity. Artists i know , during posing sessions may carry on a conversation but it's not going to be pretentious short of the mark philosophizing from nowhere going nowhere. There's no point to this bore. The words are put in these folks mouths by writers who have their heads in the clouds. One guy said 'good show if you like watching paint dry'. That sums it up perfectly. I wouldn't watch the rest if i hadn't paid to watch it. I'm writing this while the aging artist and wife are arguing with words that mean nothing. The model is so stilted and dull. I don't think there is even a smile. Everyone is SULLEN and SAD. Dull people doing dull things. Blows my mind people like this. I ain't on that band wagon' This flick is ridiculous.

museumofdave You've heard the expression about as exciting as watching paint dry. With this version of Rivette's glum excursion into an artists blockage, the viewer has 236 minutes to watch the paint dry--and often watch the sketching, which is dull, indeed. Four glum people sit in beautiful surroundings in what appears to be a summer mansion, and either don't say much to one another, or complain about lack of feeling. While its obvious the filmmaker is sincere in attempting to explore the development of human character through interaction and decision making, Rivette also neglected to remember what I think is a cardinal rule of motion pictures--they move! I can recognize some folks will become entranced by the dedicated portrayals of talented actors, and also understand while folks will be driven out of the room by the sullen inactivity--how many ways can one woman pose for a painting in one day without anything apparently happening? Id like to see the two-hour version of the film, which might be a little more riveting

Jackson Booth-Millard I saw this listed as one of the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, in the book, so obviously I was willing to watch it, despite not knowing anything about the plot or anything, I hoped for the best. Basically in rural Languedoc-Roussillon lives famous and reclusive artist Edouard Frenhofer (Michel Piccoli) with his wife and former model Liz ("Je T'Aime... Moi Non Plus" singer Jane Birkin) in his large château in the French Provence. Young artist Nicolas (David Bursztein) visits him with his girlfriend Marianne (Emmanuelle Béart), and Edouard is inspired by her beauty to start painting again, and more specifically start again, or continue as it were, the painting he has long abandoned. Marianne removes all of her clothing, and the artist commences sketching for what will become the painting he stopped, called La Belle Noiseuse, translated The Beautiful Troublemaker. Most of the film is the numerous times that Marianne poses for Edouard while he sketches and more importantly paints his subject in the various poses he puts, or sometimes forces, her into. As time goes by, he is obviously becoming frustrated as he finds it hard to find the right pose and create the right work, and she is finding it hard to stay in her poses, be naked in front of him, and feel pressured into helping him with his work. The film ends with the work completed, but Edouard feels guilty or something for the finished painting, and to make sure no-one ever sees it he hides it behind a new brick wall, and he quickly creates the replacement, we never see the real painting that was finished. Also starring Marianne Denicourt as Julienne, Gilles Arbona as Porbus and Bernard Dufour as The Painter (the real one creating the works). It is two or three minutes short of four hours long, and it may not be for everyone, it can even coin the phrase "it's as interesting as watching paint dry", but I liked it, as I have an interest in drawing myself. What made it fascinating was seeing the painting done in real time, with hardly any cutaways, so you can admire what the artist is trying to create (it's almost like watching Rolf Harris sometimes, LOL, "can you tell what it is yet?"), and these scenes really use the time wisely and make it a rewarding and compelling drama masterpiece. Very good!

kenjha A retired painter picks up his brush after meeting a woman that he wants as his model for an elusive masterpiece. This film is literally like watching paint dry, as the viewer is subjected to watching a number of portraits being drawn or painted from start to finish. It's interesting to watch the creative process the first couple of times, but becomes somewhat tiresome after a while. There isn't enough material to sustain the extensive length, but the filmmakers deserve credit though for keeping it mostly interesting despite the three-hour running time, although the ending is unsatisfying. There are good performances from Piccoli and Beart.