It’s our first show of 2021 and we want to wish everyone a happy new year! To get things off on the right foot, I wanted to choose something special for this first episode of the year. I hope you’ll agree that I’ve found it. In the spirit of magic, wonder, and exploration, I am kicking of this year’s festivities with Jacques Rivette’s Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974). It’s a landmark of the French New Wave and is a must see. We follow two friends through the looking glass and examine the nature of memory, identity, and performance. It’s also one of the greatest, strangest buddy comedies you’ll ever see. Rivette and his collaborators defy time itself to bring us this delightful cabaret act. Find a seat up close and make the most of it.
Céline and Julie Go Boating is a marvel of imagination and improvisation. It’s an odd kind of movie magic. It’s not what we usually think of when we hear the phrase, but it still qualifies. There’s magic and magick. There’s the alchemy of two souls that have been waiting, maybe even unbeknownst to them, to find each other. Finally, there is a compelling central mystery. It all adds up to a madcap romp unlike any other. Have fun with it. I’ll have a taxi waiting. Save a candy for me.
What you’ll find in this episode: friends, lovers, librarians, the significance of four, playful pursuits, dashing rescue, and when theatre escapes the stage.
– Cole
Check out Céline and Julie Go Boating on IMDB.
Ericca’s further viewing pick of The Spy Who Dumped Me.
Cole’s further viewing pick of Mulholland Drive.
Jonathan Rosenbaum explores the career of Jacques Rivette.
A great interview with Jacques Rivette just after the release of Céline and Julie Go Boating.
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