Up/Down/Fragile

Up/Down Fragile is one of Rivette's lightest and most summery films as three women find their fates intersecting as they reinvent themselves. A delightful Parisian homage to MGM musicals (Stanley Donen's Give a Girl a Break, in particular), this film features Marianne Denicourt, Natalie Richard, and Anna Karina as the neighborhood chanteuse. It also shows how pervasive Rivette's own stylistic voice is, even when he works in a seemingly familiar genre. (169 mins., 35mm) Special thanks to David Schwartz and Livia Bloom from the Museum of the Moving Image and Francois Leloup-Collet from the Cultural Services of the French Embassy for the coordination of this long overdue tour.