The Story of Marie and Julien (2003) Histoire de Marie et Julien (original title)

Director:

Jacques Rivette

Writers:

Pascal Bonitzer (scenario) and
Christine Laurent (scenario) ...
(more)

Release Date:

12 November 2003 (Belgium)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Romance

Plot:

Julien lives alone with his cat. He dreams of Marie, and a few minutes later, he sees her on the street and makes a date...

Plot Keywords:

Dream | Love | Cat | Fear | Hotel

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Emmanuelle Béart	...	Marie
Jerzy Radziwilowicz	...	Julien Müller
Anne Brochet	...	Madame X
Bettina Kee	...	Adrienne
Olivier Cruveiller	...	L'éditeur
Mathias Jung	...	Le concierge
Nicole Garcia	...	L'amie

Directed by
Jacques Rivette

Writing credits
Pascal Bonitzer		(scenario) and
Christine Laurent		(scenario) and
Jacques Rivette		(scenario)
Pascal Bonitzer		(dialogue) and
Christine Laurent		(dialogue)

Produced by
Rémi Burah	....	co-producer
Roberto Cicutto	....	associate producer
Martine Marignac	....	producer
Luigi Musini	....	associate producer
Maurice Tinchant	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
William Lubtchansky

Film Editing by
Nicole Lubtchansky

Production Design by
Emmanuel de Chauvigny		(as Manu de Chauvigny)

Costume Design by
Laurence Struz

Makeup Department
Mona Bausson	....	key makeup artist
Benoît Lestang	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Gilles Cazaux	....	assistant unit manager
Matthieu Chambon	....	assistant unit manager
Fanny Gauchery	....	assistant unit manager
Christian Lambert	....	production manager
Karine Petite	....	assistant unit manager
Roxanne Pinheiro	....	unit manager
Antoine Raimbault	....	assistant unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Shirel Amitay	....	first assistant director
Denis Kralj	....	third assistant director
Nicolas Vray	....	assistant director

Art Department
Véronique Barnéoud	....	assistant art director
Valerie Berthoux	....	model maker
Fabienne Fouvil	....	tapestry
Christophe Garnier	....	carpenter
Samuel Guitton	....	construction manager
Christine Rosier Kleynjans	....	property master
Françoise Legrand	....	tapestry
Najat Lemhaieb	....	painter (as Najat Lemhajeb)
Corinne Martin	....	painter
Thomas Pitre	....	property master
Jean-Luc Schwarz	....	key painter
Laurence Vendroux	....	set dresser
Cédric Voituron	....	carpenter
Wouter Zoon	....	props

Sound Department
Fabien Adelin	....	sound engineer
Philippe Bouchez	....	boom operator
Pascal Dedeye	....	foley artist
Florian Eidenbenz	....	sound
Daniel Gries	....	foley artist
Bernard Le Roux	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Nicolas David	....	special effects
Fabien Girodot	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Hubert Fourneaux	....	visual effects
Fabien Girodot	....	visual effects

Camera and Electrical Department
André Atellian	....	grip
Sylvain Bardoux	....	grip
Marc Casi	....	grip
Olivier Cazzitti	....	electrician
Tanguy Delhez	....	electrician
Pol Fourmois	....	electrician
Stéphane Guerreau	....	grip
Jim Howe	....	electrician
Moune Jamet	....	still photographer
Irina Lubtchansky	....	assistant camera
Eric Martinot	....	grip
Floris Naudy	....	grip
Daniel Olive	....	grip
Miroslave Radosaljevic	....	grip
Mathias Sabourdin	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ana Palacios	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Catherine Aladenise	....	assistant editor
Patrick Crucy	....	color timer
Vincent Tabaillon	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Lydia Bigard	....	script supervisor
Flore Bois	....	production secretary
Cyrille Bordonzotti	....	production administrator
Monique Eydan	....	production administrator
Ferdinanda Frangipane	....	production administrator
Philippe Gibier	....	groupman
Nathalie Letoux	....	production secretary (as Nathalie Le Toux)

Production Companies

• Pierre Grise Productions (as Pierre Grise Productions)
• Cinemaundici (Italy)
• arte France Cinéma (co-production)
• V.M. Productions (co-production)
• FM2B Productions (co-production)
• Canal+ (participation)
• Eurimages (participation)
• Cofimage 14 (participation)
• Gimages 6 (participation)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (participation)
• Région Ile-de-France (support)
• Procirep (support)

Distributors

• Celluloid Dreams (2003) (worldwide) (all media) (sales)
• Bright Angel Distribution (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Filmcoopi Zürich (2003-2004) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Fine Films (Japan) (theatrical)
• Flax Film (2004) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Les Films du Losange (2003) (France) (theatrical)
• Mikado (2004) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Impuls Home Entertainment (2006) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• Koch Lorber Films (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Prodimag (2005) (Spain) (DVD)
• Total Film Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Auditel  editing
• CICAR  grip equipment
• Cinécam  camera equipment
• Cinéstéréo  optical transfer
• Cinésyl  grip equipment
• Espace Le Pro  sound equipment
• Multivolts  electrical equipment

Also Known As:

"Histoire de Marie et Julien" - France (original title)

Runtime:

150 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Hong Kong:III | Argentina:16 | Japan:R-15 | UK:15 | Germany:12 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | Australia:M | Portugal:M/16

Company:

Pierre Grise Productions

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: In the scene in which Marie is preparing the dinner in the kitchen, a boom mic is visible in the mirror in the background.

Movie Connections:

Follows Noroît (1976)

Soundtrack:

Our Day Will Come

Relentlessly challenging cerebral ghost story

Jacques Rivette's "Histoire de Marie et Julien" is bound to confound or disappoint today's audience, but not the followers of this director's work. The film does not conform to the dominant norms of current film-making that require a solid plot with familiar or identifiable characters whose actions are socially or psychologically motivated in order to have a semblance of verisimilitude. Its characters seem to inhabit more the filmic universe than a real one and a correspondence amongst those two is not straightforward to establish. The situations explored here (blackmail, amour fou, guilt, resurrection etc) and the characters actions are elliptically presented, but they, through a meticulous and extremely precise reconstruction of the filmic reality, uncannily make perfect sense within the narrative, provided that the viewer does not try to interpret the action using concepts alien to the filmic reality.

The film requires from its audience constant participation to grasp its narrative subtleties and the patent exploration of abstract concepts such as time (cf. the last line of the film is "give me some time"; Julien is a clock meddler), the fusion of dream and reality (the first chance meeting is initially dreamt but occurs immediately afterwards; Marie's dreams command her actions when awake), guilt and redemption (the subplot involving the blackmailed woman and their sister) etc. The cyclic structure of the film with four chapter denoting different, albeit subtle, shifts in narrative perspective invite the viewer to adjust his approach according to the tonal modulations of the unfolding story. The reflexive nature of the filmic story becomes, thus, a vehicle for self-examination on behalf of the viewer of held preconceptions and ideas related to the issues unravelled within the film.

A uniquely rewarding movie for those willing to be engaged in its narrative discourse. The work of a master.