The Gang of Four (1989)

A drama following 4 women at stage school. Considered by some to be the summation of director Jacques Rivette's work as a whole.

Director:

Jacques Rivette

Writers:

Pascal Bonitzer (scenario and dialogue), Christine Laurent (scenario and dialogue)

Stars:

Bulle Ogier, Benoît Régent, Fejria Deliba

3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bulle Ogier	...	Constance
Benoît Régent	...	Thomas
Fejria Deliba	...	Anna
Laurence Côte	...	Claude
Bernadette Giraud	...	Joyce
Inês de Medeiros	...	Lucia (as Ines d'Almeida)
Nathalie Richard	...	Cécile
Pascale Salkin	...	Corinne
Dominique Rousseau	...	Pauline
Agnès Sourdillion	...	Jeanne (as Agnès Sourdillon)
Irina Dalle	...	Esther
Caroline Gasser	...	Raphaële
Irène Jacob	...	Marine
Florence Lannuzel	...	Louise
Françoise Muxel	...	Valérie

Storyline

A drama following 4 women at stage school. Considered by some to be the summation of director Jacques Rivette's work as a whole.

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | topless female nudity | kiss | keys | rehearsal | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Lucia talks to the ghosts and recites some kind of spell in her native Portuguese language. It is inferred that she is a witch. This may be an implicit reference to Julio Cortazar's Rayuela, whose main character, La Maga (real name, Lucia), is also a witch, of Uruguayan descent. The image of both heroines is very similar, in addition to the name. And Rayuela is also set in Paris.

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Connections

Features A Brutal Game (1983)

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Soundtracks

Hor ch'el ciel e la terra
Music by Claudio Monteverdi
Solistes, choeur et orchestre de la Societa cameristica di Lugano
Conducted by Edwin Loehrer

User Reviews

My First Rivette

Gang of Four is my first Rivette, so I cannot comment on how classically structured it is as opposed to experimental, because I have yet to see Rivette's experimental work, yet I read from a Chicago critic, Chicago being the city wherein I discovered Rivette, that this is an ideal introduction to his work because it is more of a compilation of the themes that are typically abound in his films, such as theater, conspiracy, sexual frustration, female camaraderie, and things of that nature.

I was not thrilled and yearning for more, but I was interested in what Rivette tries to do enough to want to see some of his other films, even La Belle Noiseuse, a four-and-a-half- hour film with only two people in one room. What I liked about Gang of Four was how the four main characters, the girls in the acting class who share a small house together, have a way of turning everything into a dramatization of things as their alternative to such a packed in environment that is squeezed progressively tighter by the mysterious man and the ambiguously existent conspiracy he speaks of.

The reason I don't have much else to say is because Rivette's direction seems too static somehow, but there is intrigue in his style and in his stories. I found the film interesting and dull at the same time. Perhaps it's my fault and I was expecting a different sort of film-making than what the movie was made of.

Details

Country:

France Switzerland

Language:

French Portuguese

Release Date:

8 February 1989 (France)

Also Known As:

Gang of Four

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pierre Grise Productions, Limbo Film AG, Investimage

Technical Specs

Runtime:

160 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1