In this fascinating and unconventional examination of the creative
process, an artist near the end of his career finds new inspiration in a
young model. Edouard Frenhofer (
Michel Piccoli)
is a famous and well-respected artist who lives in a comfortable estate
in the French countryside. At the age of 60, Frenhofer considers his
career as a painter to be over; he says he no longer feels any
inspiration to create, and his last attempt at a major work, a nude
study of his wife Liz (
Jane Birkin)
called "La Belle Noiseuse" (The Beautiful Nuisance), has sat unfinished
for ten years. Just as Frenhofer has lost his enthusiasm for his art,
he has also lost his passion for Liz; their relationship is polite and
friendly, but without enthusiasm.
When Frenhofer tells Nicolas (
David Bursztein),
his young protégé, that he no longer feels the desire to paint, Nicolas
suggests that he needs a more inspiring subject, and he offers his
girlfriend Marianne (
Emmanuelle Béart)
as a model. Frenhofer is taken with Marianne's beauty, and, with Liz's
cool approval, he and Marianne spend several arduous sessions together,
exchanging ideas and opinions as Frenhofer methodically attempts to
create a final masterpiece. While
La Belle Noiseuse runs 240 minutes, director
Jacques Rivette
also prepared an alternate version, La Belle Noiseuse - Divertimento,
which runs 120 minutes, features a different framing sequence, and
incorporates takes unused in the original cut.
