Video of the day: Rivette minus Rivette

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

In a movie, the director is always present, invisible. We see his or her effect or indifference on the actors, the camera, the editing. So what if we pull back a little further, behind the finished image? The result is something like this video, shot last year by YouTube user dnumnt on the set of Jacques Rivette's forthcoming movie, 36 Vues du Pic Saint-Loup.

Rivette is conspicously absent from the image; it can be assumed, from another video from the set, that the 81-year old is sitting down outside the frame, dressed in a scarf and jacket while his crew wear shorts and t-shirts. The video, then, is not of Rivette directing, but of what Rivette's direction looks like. There is a small, relaxed crew. You can't hear the dialogue, but you can see the movement of the microphone, which, in truly Rivettian fashion, follows the actor's feet.

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