Duelle
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Duelle is a French film directed by Jacques Rivette and released in 1976. The film is part one of what was to be Jacques Rivette's four-part project "Scenes from a Parallel Life".
The film has been described as a supernatural film noir, with a plot about mortals caught up in a duel between a moon ghost (Juliet Berto) and a sun fairy (Bulle Ogier) who are both trying to obtain a magic diamond.
Before filming Rivette had shown the actors the Val Lewton film "The Seventh Victim" and the film makes reference to this and other film noir classics like "Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne," "Kiss Me Deadly", "The Lady From Shanghai" and "The Big Sleep". Another influence is the films of Jean Cocteau and some of the dialog is made of quotes from the Cocteau play Knights of the Round Table. The music for the film was played live with pianist Jean Wiener visible in many of the shots, the actors moving in response to the music, which adds to the dreamy atmosphere.
The film has been praised for its visual beauty: widescreen, dark rich colours, filmed in half light, dawn or dusk. The locations are all in a depopulated Paris, a botanical garden, an aquarium etc, with an atmospheric surreal feel like a Delvaux painting.
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