Love On The
Ground
“With
a creditable cast,
Jacques Rivette’s Love On The Ground
(originally released
in 1984 in France as L’Amour Par Terre)
is an intriguing foray
into the ongoing
theatre-versus-film
debate...”
CHARLOTTE (GERALDINE CHAPLIN, TALK TO HER) AND EMILY (JANE BIRKIN, BLOW
UP) are actresses who give 'theatre
at home'
performances.
When they meet troubled director Clément Roquemaure (Jean-Pierre Kalfon, The
Dreamers), who wants to give a private performance at his own home, their
lives become surreal and intertwined with both Roquemaure and his friend —
the mysterious magician and medium Paul (André Dussollier, Amelie), who
manages to affect the play and its actors in surprising ways.
When Roquemaure invites both Charlotte and Emily to take part in his play, neither
actress understands why he has asked two of them to come when there is only
one female part. He also wants them to
move into his house while they rehearse. "Roquemaure won't make us quarrel,"
says Charlotte. Paul is at the house and produces a white dove from his sleeve,
speaking to them ambiguously. Emily comments: "I hate people who have things
up their sleeves — doves, grand-mothers…"
It is a darkly dramatic house, full of shadowy corners, and Roquemaure sets
verbal tests for the girls — tests to make the decision who will play the
lead female part. Left to their own devices, Charlotte and Emily explore the
house and discover a room that appears to be left as if someone had just walked
out, leaving a wardrobe full of clothes — and what of the beautiful black
dress slashed to ribbons? Was it the room of the mysterious Béatrice, who once
had a relationship with Paul and left with Clément?
Emily is astonished to find that when she is with Paul, she can see supernatural
visions. While she is in bed with Paul, she sees herself lying dead on the ground
with a wound on her forehead and a clock chiming. She claims to be frightened
of the magician — she doesn't
like waking nightmares and omens frighten her. If she's going to die, she says,
she doesn't want to know. "I can't forget the girl in red,
she says, like Death taking me by the hand…"
And Charlotte's relationship with Roquemaure is equally odd. Is he looking for
a woman who is alive in his scripts and in his imagination — only to be
disappointed by the imperfect creatures he meets?
There is also a surreal situation where a girl in a red hat approaches Emily
on the train, telling her she doesn't like begging but was taught by a blind
man who helped her to steal. And another where a stranger rescues Charlotte
from an embarrassing situation only to reveal her
life story.
Charlotte's complicated and sad life unfolds, but both she and Emily appear
to hold back from full commitment. When, in a rash moment, their friendship
is tested, it almost ends in tragedy.
Love On The Ground also features Isabelle Linnartz as Béatrice; Sandra
Montaigu as Eléonore; Eva Roelens as Adriana/Justine; Facundo Bo as Silvano;
and Laszlo Szabo as Virgil.
•
One
of Jacques Rivette's most strange and compelling films, Love On The Ground
is a must for fans of avant-garde films and is released on 25 February (2008)
at an RRP of £14.99. Language: French (Subtitled).
“With
a creditable cast,