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Reviews Counted: 12
Fresh: 10
Rotten:2
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 46 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Synopsis: One of the lesser known but not less influential and important auteurs of the French New Wave, Jaques Rivette is adored by contemporaries including Trouffaut and Chabrol. His 1998 thriller, SECRET DEFENSE, is a murder mystery set apart by... [More]
Starring: Sandrine Bonnaire, Jerzy Radziwlowicz, Gregoire Colin, Francoise Fabian
Director: Jacques Rivette
Thanks to Bonnaire's characteristically intelligent performance, the circumlocutions hold some interest, proving again that since her discovery by Pialat she has become the most uncompromising of French actresses.
Top Critic
Top Critic Yes, it's long, but Bonnaire holds it together with a statuesques and human performance, and whilst not Rivette's best, this is still a fascinating example of his work.
Top Critic The film will either draw you in (as Rivette's best films can), or simply wear you out.
The brooding intimations of Greek tragedy are part of what keeps this 170-minute thriller fascinating throughout.
Rivette stretches the proceedings out to 2 hours and 45 minutes, gradually revealing little bits of the puzzle to us and ending on a perfect, sublime note.
Sandrine Bonnaire is a good reason to see this unconventional thriller that isn't quite a thriller -- yet it is.
Rivette uses this time to flesh out his characters and their actions to the point where the movie feels closer to a novel than cinema.
Hermetic and somewhat opaque, this perfectly symmetrical tragedy is not for every taste. For those willing to enter the Rivette zone, however, it's a chess puzzle devised by a grand master.
As the glacially paced film inches forward with its halting conversations and accusatory glances, it tests your patience. And when the truth ultimately tumbles out and more violence erupts, don't expect a catharsis.
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