Review of Divertimento (2000) by Gregory G — 01 Mar 2014

Jacque Rivette's "La Belle Noiseuse" is unquestionably the greatest movie ever made about the artistic process. Inspired by Balzac's "The Unknown Masterpiece," its about the conflicting relationship between a famous painter (Michel Piccoli) and his gorgeous nude model (Emmanuelle Beart) during the creation of his unfinished masterpiece known as "La Belle Noiseuse.

" During the length of this movie's four hours, Rivette shows us in painstaking detail the physical and psychological process of creating art. Aided by the hand drawings and paintings of Bernard Dufour, we see and hear the full length scratches of the pencil and strokes of the paint brush; glimpsed first as rough sketches transforming into completed works.

Set in a chateau in France, the setting of the painter's studio feels claustrophobic. Piccoli becomes the obsessive artist pushing his model into awkward poses. A battle of wills ensues; a leering pas de deux that causes tension and jealousy among the model's boyfriend and the painter's wife, his former model.

Despite the length, this is an absorbing picture with a confident rhythm that lets the processes of art play out without ever feeling ponderous. Piccoli gives perhaps his best performance as the obsessive artist who is often cruel to his model and wife for the sake of art.

The ethereal beauty Beart materializes into a Modigliani nude come to life. Superb cinematography by William Lubtchansky. Won the Grand Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival. With Jane Birkin, Marianne Denicourt, David Bursztein.

Translated roughly as "The Beautiful Troublemaker." In French with English subtitles.