L'amour fou (1969)

During the rehearsals for the production of the tragedy Andromaque, the leading actress and her director, a couple behind the scenes, can't find a way to leave their personal problems at ... See full summary »

Director:

Jacques Rivette

Writers:

Jacques Rivette (screenplay), Marilù Parolini (screenplay)

Stars:

Bulle Ogier, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Josée Destoop

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Bulle Ogier	...	Claire
Jean-Pierre Kalfon	...	Sébastien / Pyrrhus
Josée Destoop	...	Marta-Hermione
Michèle Moretti	...	Michèle
Celia	...	Célia / Andromaque
Françoise Godde	...	Françoise / Cléone
Maddly Bamy	...	Maddly-Céphise
Liliane Bordoni	...	Puck
Yves Beneyton	...	Yves / Oreste
Dennis Berry	...	Dennis / Pylade
Michel Delahaye	...	Michel / Phoenix
André S. Labarthe	...	Television Director
Didier Léon	...	Didier
Claude Richard	...	Philippe (as Claude Eric Richard)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Étienne Becker

Storyline

During the rehearsals for the production of the tragedy Andromaque, the leading actress and her director, a couple behind the scenes, can't find a way to leave their personal problems at home. And life imitates fiction, creating a real tragedy for this couple when the man finds comfort with other women while the actress prefers to stay focused on her work, as if nothing is happening with her partner.

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Plot Keywords:

tragedy | actress | rehearsal | written by director | cat | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

15 January 1969 (France)

Also Known As:

Amor loco

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cocinor,Les Films Marceau,Sogexportfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

252 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Cinéma, de notre temps: Jacques Rivette - Le veilleur (1994)

User Reviews

Lourd

Strikingly photographed, low key cinema verite, sometimes difused, sometimes harsh, high contrast black and white; it's almost like we're watching a film/ play, *and* a "Making Of" documentary of same, as the drama and dissolution of a marriage unfolds during rehearsals for a theatrical production- but the film goes on for four hours, and little happens, until a 20 minutes long mix of amour et fureur, as the couple take axes and chop down the walls of their apartment, and smash their television set with the same ax, vandalise the walls, and maybe reconcile.

I greatly enjoyed Rivette's later, Out 1, and can see its foundation being layed here in its lengthy runtime, and conversations filmed in mirrors, but I found this film to be quite a chore to endure. I look forward to watching Out 1 again, but can't say I have any interest in watching this again (and I watched it twice already, hoping something would click for me, but no such luck)