Jacques Rivette: The Night Watchman

Labarthe and Bazin asked Serge Daney—one of the most influential French critics, a longtime pillar of Cahiers du cinéma—if he would make a film on Jacques Rivette. Daney hesitated, protesting that he wasn’t a filmmaker, but when the suggestion of Claire Denis was put forward, Daney gladly signed on to the project. Denis has been Rivette’s assistant, and knew him and his work well. Responding to both Daney’s and Denis’s questions, Rivette speaks candidly of his work, both as a film critic and a filmmaker. As in a Rivette film, stories begin to spin out of other stories and soon there was enough material for two films; happily, the TV channel Arte agreed to broadcast both parts.

Image courtesy of LES FILMS DU LOSANGE / THE KOBAL COLLECTION

Series: NYFF50: Cinéastes/Cinema of Our Time

Venue: Howard Gilman Theater