Paris Belongs to Us (1961)

Paris Belongs to Us (1961) / Country: France / Director: Jacques Rivette / Duration: 141 min / Language: French / Subtitles: English / Entrance: FREE

The New Wave (French: La Nouvelle Vague) is a French art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation and a spirit of iconoclasm. New Wave filmmakers explored new approaches to editing, visual style, and narrative, as well as engagement with the social and political upheavals of the era, often making use of irony or exploring existential themes.

On Thursday, 10 February 2022, at 19:00 we screen Paris Belongs to Us (1961), a French mystery film directed by Jacques Rivette. Set in Paris in 1957 and often referencing Shakespeare's play Pericles, the title is highly ironic because the characters are immigrants or alienated and do not feel that they belong at all.

The story centres on an essentially innocent, young university student named Anne who, through her older brother, meets a group of friends haunted by mysterious tensions and fears that lead two of them to commit suicide. Among them is her opposite, a femme fatale named Terry who has had affairs with all the men. The source of the malaise affecting the group never is explained, leaving viewers to wonder how far it might be an amalgam of individual imbalances, general existentialist anxiety, or the paranoia of the Cold War as the world faced the possibility of nuclear annihilation.

Jacques Rivette (1928 - 2016) was a French film director and film critic most commonly associated with the French New Wave and the film magazine Cahiers du Cinéma. He made twenty-nine films, including L'amour fou (1969), Out 1 (1971), Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974), and La Belle Noiseuse (1991). His work is noted for its improvisation, loose narratives, and lengthy running times.

All films will be screened in the French language with English subtitles and the entrance is free of charge. Kino ARMATA's public program is supported by Prishtina Municipality and Goethe Institut.