Paris Belongs to Us (1961)

Anne Goupil is a literature student in Paris in 1957. Her elder brother, Pierre, takes her to a friend's party where the guests include Philip Kaufman, an expatriate American escaping ... See full summary »

Director:

Jacques Rivette

Writers:

Jacques Rivette (scenario and dialogue), Jean Gruault (scenario and dialogue)

Stars:

Betty Schneider, Giani Esposito, Françoise Prévost

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Betty Schneider	...	Anne Goupil
Giani Esposito	...	Gerard Lenz
Françoise Prévost	...	Terry Yordan
Daniel Crohem	...	Philip Kaufman
François Maistre	...	Pierre Goupil
Brigitte Juslin
Noëlle Leiris
Monique Le Porrier
Malka Ribowska
Louison Roblin	...	(as Louise Roblin)
Anne Zamire
Paul Bisciglia	...	Paul
Jean-Pierre Delage
Claus Von Lorbach
Jean Martin

Storyline

Anne Goupil is a literature student in Paris in 1957. Her elder brother, Pierre, takes her to a friend's party where the guests include Philip Kaufman, an expatriate American escaping McCarthyism, and Gerard Lenz, a theatre director who arrives with the mysterious woman Terry. The talk at the party is about the apparent suicide of their friend Juan, a Spanish activist who had recently broken up with Terry. Philip warns Anne that the forces that killed Juan will soon do the same to Gerard. Gerard is trying to rehearse Shakespeare's "Pericles", although he has no financial backing. Anne takes a part in the play to help Gerard, and to try to discover why Juan died.

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Plot Keywords:

man slaps a woman | telephone call | suicide | written by director | city name in title | 

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Taglines:

You Either Dig This Film Or You Don't

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

As an inside joke, in "The 400 Blows", the film Antoine and his parents go to see is "Paris Belongs to Us", which wouldn't be released for another two years.

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Quotes

Anne Goupil: [reading aloud from Shakespeare's The Tempest] Full fathom five thy father lies / Of his bones are coral made / Those are pearls that were his eyes / Nothing of him that doth fade / But doth suffer a sea-change / Into something rich and strange

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Connections

Referenced in Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015)

User Reviews

The young men look far too old to be going around acting in the way they do

A rather wordy first feature from Jacques Rivette set in 1957 and probably filmed that year as we know it took some time to get a release. If the film had difficulties back in the day it would seem it has even more now. The young men look far too old to be going around acting in the way they do yet we are presented with this bunch of alienated persons, alienated either by their own existentialist attitude and stated beliefs or their immigrant status. One has fled Spain another the fruits of Mccarthyism in the US and all meet and disperse, foretelling of doom, murder and suicide. At the same time a production of Shakespeare's Pericles is being attempted and although I do not know the play I understand the problems of staging it is an ongoing feature and the unresolved nature of much of the play is reflected here in the story of alienated 'youth'.

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French English

Release Date:

13 December 1961 (France)

Also Known As:

Paris Belongs to Us

Filming Locations:

Quartier Latin, Paris 5, Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ajym Films, Les Films du Carrosse

Technical Specs

Runtime:

141 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1