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''Out 1'', also referred to as ''Out 1: Noli Me Tangere'', is a 1971 French film directed by
Jacques Rivette Jacques Rivette (; 1 March 1928 – 29 January 2016) was a French film director and film critic most commonly associated with the French New Wave and the film magazine ''Cahiers du Cinéma''. He made twenty-nine films, including ''L'amour fou' ...
and
Suzanne Schiffman Suzanne Schiffman (née Klochendler; 27 September 1929 – 6 June 2001) was a French screenwriter and director for numerous motion pictures. She often worked with François Truffaut. The 'script girl' Joelle, played by Nathalie Baye in Truffa ...
. It is indebted to
Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...
's ''
La Comédie humaine LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
'', particularly the ''History of the Thirteen'' collection (1833–35). Known for its length of nearly 13 hours, the film is divided into eight parts of approximately 90–100 minutes each. The vast length of ''Out 1'' allows Rivette and Schiffman, like Balzac, to construct multiple loosely connected characters with independent stories whose subplots weave amongst each other and continually uncover new characters with their own subplots. A shorter version of the film exists, and its ''Spectre'' subtitle was chosen for the name's ambiguous and various indistinct meanings, while the '' Noli me tangere'' ("touch me not") subtitle for the original version is clearly a reference to it being the full-length film as intended by Rivette. The film's experimentation with parallel subplots was influenced by
André Cayatte André Cayatte (3 February 1909, in Carcassonne – 6 February 1989, in Paris) was a French filmmaker, writer and lawyer, who became known for his films centering on themes of crime, justice, and moral responsibility. Cayatte began his directoral ...
's two-part '' Anatomy of a Marriage'' (1964), while the use of expansive screen time was first toyed with by Rivette in ''
L'amour fou L'Amour may refer to: People * Louis L'Amour Louis Dearborn L'Amour (; né LaMoore; March 22, 1908 – June 10, 1988) was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels (though he called his wor ...
'' (1969). The parallel narrative structure has since been used in many other notable films, including
Krzysztof Kieślowski Krzysztof Kieślowski (; 27 June 1941 – 13 March 1996) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is known internationally for ''Dekalog'' (1989), ''The Double Life of Veronique'' (1991), and the ''Three Colours'' trilogy (1993 –1994) ...
's ''
Dekalog ''Dekalog'' (, also known as ''Dekalog: The Ten Commandments'' and ''The Decalogue'') is a 1988 Polish drama television miniseries directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski and co-written by Kieślowski with Krzysztof Piesiewicz, with music by Zbigniew P ...
'' and
Lucas Belvaux Lucas Belvaux (born 14 November 1961) is a Belgian actor and film director. His directing credits include the ''Trilogie'', consisting of three films with interlocking stories and characters, each of which was filmed in a different genre. The t ...
's ''Trilogie'', which includes ''
Un couple épatant ''An Amazing Couple'' (french: Un couple épatant); also known as (''Trilogy: Two'') is a 2002 French-Belgian film written and directed by Lucas Belvaux. This is the first installment of a series ''Trilogy'', which constitutes a comedy followed ...
'', ''
Cavale ''On the Run'' (french: Cavale) also known as (''Trilogy: One'') is a 2003 film directed by, written by, and starring Lucas Belvaux. This is the second installment of the ''Trilogy'' series. It constitutes a thriller, and is preceded by ''Un co ...
'' and ''
Après la vie ''Après la vie'' (After the Life; also known in UK as Trilogy: Three) is a 2002 Lucas Belvaux film with his own script. It is the final installment of a series ''Trilogy'', which constitutes a melodrama preceded by '' Un couple épatant'', a com ...
'', to name a few. Each part begins with a title in the form of "from ''person'' to ''person''" (usually indicating the first and last characters seen in each episode), followed by a handful of
black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
still photos recapitulating the scenes of the prior episode, then concluded by showing the final minute or so (in black and white) of the last episode before cutting into the new episode itself (which is entirely in color). ''Out 1'' received 13 votes in the 2012 ''
Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...
'' critics' poll of the greatest films ever made, resulting in a final ranking of 127th.


Plot and themes

When asked why the film is called ''Out 1'', Rivette responded, "I chose 'Out' as the opposite of the vogue word 'in', which had caught on in France and which I thought was silly. The action of the film is rather like a serial which could continue through several episodes, so I gave it the number 'One'." From the starting image of a small group of actors lying down with their legs bent back toward themselves, Rivette again focuses his film on rehearsals for a play, a motif present in both ''L'amour fou'' and his debut feature ''
Paris nous appartient ''Paris Belongs to Us'' (french: Paris nous appartient, sometimes translated as ''Paris Is Ours'') is a 1961 French mystery film directed by Jacques Rivette. Set in Paris in 1957 and often referencing Shakespeare's play ''Pericles'', the title i ...
'' (1960); in particular, he extends ''L'amour fous relentless ''reportage''-style examination of the continual development of a play under rehearsal (in that case
Jean Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditio ...
's ''
Andromaque ''Andromaque'' is a tragedy in five acts by the French playwright Jean Racine written in alexandrine verse. It was first performed on 17 November 1667 before the court of Louis XIV in the Louvre in the private chambers of the Queen, Marie Thérès ...
'') and its effects on the director and his wife. In the case of ''Out 1'', the two main anchors of the film are two different theater groups each rehearsing a different
Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...
play (''
Seven Against Thebes The Seven against Thebes were seven champions in Greek mythology who made war on Thebes. They were chosen by Adrastus, the king of Argos, to be the captains of an Argive army whose purpose was to restore Oedipus' son Polynices to the Theban th ...
'' and ''
Prometheus Bound ''Prometheus Bound'' ( grc, Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης, ''Promētheús Desmṓtēs'') is an Ancient Greek tragedy traditionally attributed to Aeschylus and thought to have been composed sometime between 479 BC and the terminus ante ...
''), and the film does not particularly privilege any character within these groups more than any other. External to these two groups, two outsiders peripheral to the theater are featured: Colin (
Jean-Pierre Léaud Jean-Pierre Léaud, ComM (; born 28 May 1944) is a French actor, known for playing Antoine Doinel in François Truffaut's series of films about that character, beginning with ''The 400 Blows'' (1959). He also worked several times with Jean-Luc God ...
), a young man who believes that there may be a real-life Thirteen group in operation, and Frédérique (
Juliet Berto Juliet Berto (16 January 1947 – 10 January 1990), born Annie Jamet, was a French actress, director and screenwriter. A member of the same loose group of student radicals as Anne Wiazemsky, she first appeared in Jean-Luc Godard's ''Two or Three ...
), a young swindler who happens to steal letters which may prove to be communication between members of the Thirteen. Other featured characters include Emilie (
Bulle Ogier Bulle Ogier (born Marie-France Thielland; 9 August 1939) is a French actress and screenwriter. She adopted the professional surname Ogier, which was her mother's maiden name. Her first appearance on screen was in ''Voilà l'Ordre'', a short film ...
), who runs a local hangout under the name Pauline and whose husband, Igor, has been missing for six months.
Michael Lonsdale Michael Edward Lonsdale-Crouch (24 May 1931 – 21 September 2020), commonly known as Michael Lonsdale and sometimes named as Michel Lonsdale, was a French actor and author who appeared in over 180 films and television shows. He is best know ...
plays Thomas, the director of the ''Prometheus Bound'' group, and there are cameos by directors
Barbet Schroeder Barbet Schroeder (born 26 August 1941) is an Iranian-born Swiss film director and producer who started his career in French cinema in the 1960s, working with directors such as Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Rivette. Since the late 1980s, he has dire ...
and
Éric Rohmer Jean Marie Maurice Schérer or Maurice Henri Joseph Schérer, known as Éric Rohmer (; 21 March 192011 January 2010), was a French film director, film critic, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and teacher. Rohmer was the last of the post-World ...
, who plays a Balzac professor in a scene of both plot exposition and comic relief. The first few hours of the film alternate between documentary-style scenes observing the two troupes' rehearsals, Colin soliciting money from cafe patrons as a
deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an Audiology, audiological condition. In this context it ...
man by playing irritating harmonica tunes, and Frédérique stealing money through a variety of deceptions. The plot gradually develops when Colin receives three mysterious messages in quick succession containing cryptic references to "the Thirteen" and to
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...
's ''
The Hunting of the Snark ''The Hunting of the Snark'', subtitled ''An Agony in 8 Fits'', is a poem by the English writer Lewis Carroll. It is typically categorised as a nonsense poem. Written between 1874 and 1876, it borrows the setting, some creatures, and eight por ...
''. He quickly connects this to Balzac and begins a
quixotic Quixotic may refer to: * Quixotism, deriving from the novel ''Don Quixote'' * ''Quixotic'' (album), an album by Martina Topley-Bird * Quix*o*tic Quix*o*tic was a rock band active from 1997 to 2002 in the area of Washington, D.C., United States. T ...
quest to uncover what the messages mean and who the Thirteen are. Sometime afterward, Frédérique casually interrupts a businessman, Etienne, playing
chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
against himself at home; when she has the room to herself briefly, she attempts to locate a stash of money but instead steals a collection of letters. Sensing that they refer to some sort of secret society, she attempts to sell them to several of the correspondents in exchange for either money or more information on the group, but fails to gain any information. Only Emilie buys the letters, but only because they refer to her husband. The ''Seven Against Thebes'' production takes on a newcomer, Renaud, to assist in the production, but he quickly begins to take over more and more of the creative direction of the piece from Lili, who recedes into the background in disgust. Their fortunes appear high when Quentin wins a million francs at the races, but during the ensemble's celebration, Renaud steals all the cash; the production is cancelled and the members undertake a futile search for Renaud, spreading out all across Paris with a photo of him to try to discover his whereabouts. Thomas brings in old friend Sarah to help work through a creative block on ''Prometheus Bound'', but she instead causes a rift within the group and the play is abandoned after another player leaves for unrelated reasons. It turns out that Thomas's block was largely due to his break-up with Lili after being with her personally and professionally for seven years. Thomas also is revealed to be a key member of the Thirteen, although the group never really was fully functional and had agreed to go into a period of dormancy two years earlier. Ironically, a chance encounter between Colin and Thomas motivates the latter to suggest reviving the Thirteen to Etienne, who is reluctant because the group never really did anything to begin with. One of the main correspondents in Etienne's letters, Pierre, is frequently discussed but never seen, and is described alternately as sinister and childlike. After reading the contents of the letters sold to her by Frédérique, Emilie prepares packages to be sent to major Parisian newspapers containing photocopies of these letters and purporting to disclose the existence of a scandal involving Pierre setting up Igor. Since Pierre and Igor are both members of the Thirteen, members of the group are forced to reconstitute to prevent the disclosure, and Thomas, Etienne and the ruthless lawyer Lucie de Graffe (
Françoise Fabian Michèle Cortes (born 10 May 1933), known professionally as Françoise Fabian (), is a French film actress. She has appeared in more than 100 films since 1956. In 1971, Fabian signed the Manifesto of the 343 The Manifesto of the 343 (), was a F ...
) meet to discuss what to do. Frédérique eventually meets up with the young man that her gay friend Honey Moon (
Michel Berto Michel Berto (; 25 December 1939 in Grenoble – 2 January 1996 in Paris) was a French actor. He was married to the actresses Juliet Berto and Marie Berto. His body was found on 3 January 1996, hence the exact date of his death is uncertai ...
) is infatuated with, who turns out to be Renaud; the two become married in a blood ritual, but she suspects that he may be a member of another secret society even more sinister than the Thirteen. After seeing him associate with a local gang, she draws a gun on him, but warns him – causing him to turn around and shoot instantly, killing her. Colin gives up on the idea of the Thirteen, while it is quietly suggested during a discussion between two other members of the Thirteen, Lucie de Graffe and the cynical professor named Warok (
Jean Bouise Jean Bouise (3 June 1929 – 6 July 1989) was a French actor. He was born in Le Havre. In the 1950s he helped to found Théâtre de la Cité, and was a player in the company. He entered films in the 1960s, and played a supporting roles in ...
), that perhaps Pierre was the author of the messages to Colin and has been the invisible hand behind much of the plot, because he misses the Thirteen and wants to either restore it or replace it with young blood like Colin. Several of the characters retreat in the end to Emilie's small seaside house in Normandy called "the Obade" (another Balzacian reference, see "Ferragus"), where she breaks down in front of Sarah, confessing her love for Colin (who had been courting her earlier) and Igor at the same time. Her dilemma is solved at the end, when she receives a call from Igor telling her to meet him in Paris. She and Lili set off for Paris. Thomas remains behind on the beach at the Obade with two of his actors and has a drunken hysterical episode there, when he pretends to collapse on the sand. His actors are worried and frantically try to revive him. When he reveals his jest, they walk away in disgust and get in the car to go back to Paris. Thomas is left alone on the beach, crying and laughing at the same time, stranded at the Obade and for the first time in the film, part of no group whatsoever. The film then quickly cuts to a completely unrelated shot of Marie, an actress from the ''Thebes'' group who still seems to be searching for the missing Renaud and the money he stole. A golden statute of a Greek goddess, perhaps Athena, towers above her. The shot is held for a second before fading out.


Characters

*Achille ( Sylvain Corthay): Actor in ''Prometheus Bound'' troupe. Accompanies Thomas and Rose to the Obade at the end of the film. *Arsenal (
Marcel Bozonnet Marcel-Louis Bozonnet (born 18 May 1944, in Semur-en-Auxois), is a French actor. Bozonnet entered the Comédie-Française in 1982, and became a " sociétaire" in 1986. He subsequently directed the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatiq ...
): Actor in ''Seven Against Thebes'' troupe. Vaguely knew Renaud and introduced him to the rest of the group. Also known as Nicolas, Papa, or Theo. *Balzac specialist (
Éric Rohmer Jean Marie Maurice Schérer or Maurice Henri Joseph Schérer, known as Éric Rohmer (; 21 March 192011 January 2010), was a French film director, film critic, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and teacher. Rohmer was the last of the post-World ...
): Professor who Colin contacts (while still pretending to be a deaf man) to attempt to discover some further clues as to the possibility of the existence of the Thirteen in real life. *Beatrice ( Edwine Moatti): Actress in ''Prometheus Bound'' troupe. Is a confidant and possibly lover of Thomas. Engages in a threesome with Thomas and Sarah. Her relationship with the Ethnologist is broken off when he announces his intention to depart for the Basque region for work. This also causes her to leave the troupe. *Bergamotte ( Bernadette Onfroy): Actress in ''Prometheus Bound'' troupe. *Colin (
Jean-Pierre Léaud Jean-Pierre Léaud, ComM (; born 28 May 1944) is a French actor, known for playing Antoine Doinel in François Truffaut's series of films about that character, beginning with ''The 400 Blows'' (1959). He also worked several times with Jean-Luc God ...
): Young outsider who pretends to be a deaf whilst playing a harmonica for money around Parisian cafes. Receives three messages from Pierre, which set him off to try to uncover a real-life "Thirteen" in the vein of the Balzac novels. Falls in love with Pauline after numerous meetings at her store. Makes many connections through his investigations, but ultimately fails to find any cooperative parties and abandons his belief in the Thirteen. *Elaine ( Karen Puig): Actress in ''Seven Against Thebes'' troupe. Alerts Lucie when Lili goes missing for several days (which turns out to be a trip with Emilie to the Obade). *Emilie (
Bulle Ogier Bulle Ogier (born Marie-France Thielland; 9 August 1939) is a French actress and screenwriter. She adopted the professional surname Ogier, which was her mother's maiden name. Her first appearance on screen was in ''Voilà l'Ordre'', a short film ...
): Member of the Thirteen. Name that Pauline goes by at home. With Lili she murders the courier and hides his body in the basement of the shop. Wife to Igor and mother of two children with him. His disappearance six months earlier causes her to buy Pierre's letters from Frédérique; these refer to the disappearance. Despite Sarah's admonitions, she plans to send photocopies of the letters to newspapers in order to discover what is going on; however, Iris winds up burning them behind her back. Leaves for Obade, where she confesses her love for Colin and Igor to Sarah. Igor calls her not long after and tells her to meet him in Paris. She leaves with Lili. See Pauline. *The Ethnologist ( Michel Delahaye): Romantic interest of Beatrice. Breaks up with her when he announces his departure to the Basque region for work. Beatrice leaves ''Prometheus Bound'' shortly afterward because of this. *Etienne (
Jacques Doniol-Valcroze Jacques Doniol-Valcroze (; 15 March 1920 – 6 October 1989) was a French actor, critic, screenwriter, and director. In 1951, Doniol-Valcroze was a co-founder of the renowned film magazine ''Cahiers du cinéma'', along with André Bazin and Jo ...
): Member of the Thirteen. Frederique steals his letters during an attempted con and tries to sell them off for money and information about the group. Meets with Thomas to discuss the revival of the group and later with Thomas and Lucie to discuss how to control Emilie's potential contact with newspapers. *Faune ( Monique Clement): Actress in ''Prometheus Bound'' troupe. *Frédérique (
Juliet Berto Juliet Berto (16 January 1947 – 10 January 1990), born Annie Jamet, was a French actress, director and screenwriter. A member of the same loose group of student radicals as Anne Wiazemsky, she first appeared in Jean-Luc Godard's ''Two or Three ...
): Young petty thief who deceives and exploits men only as long as she needs to get into their wallets. Her only friend and confidant is Honey Moon, a gay barfly played by Juliet Berto's real-life husband Michel Berto. She finds Etienne's letters while looking for his money and takes them instead. Starts calling the correspondents to sell them for money, but begins to try to make sense of the information referring to the Thirteen and also asks for information, particularly from Lucie. Meets Honey Moon's crush, who turns out to be Renaud, and has a blood wedding with him. After suspecting his involvement in a secret society, she follows him and causes him to shoot her dead before he realizes who she is. *Georges (unseen): Member of the Thirteen. Lili's current boyfriend. *Gian-Reto (
Barbet Schroeder Barbet Schroeder (born 26 August 1941) is an Iranian-born Swiss film director and producer who started his career in French cinema in the 1960s, working with directors such as Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Rivette. Since the late 1980s, he has dire ...
): Hanger-on at Pauline's store. *Honey Moon (
Michel Berto Michel Berto (; 25 December 1939 in Grenoble – 2 January 1996 in Paris) was a French actor. He was married to the actresses Juliet Berto and Marie Berto. His body was found on 3 January 1996, hence the exact date of his death is uncertai ...
): Gay confidant of Frédérique who borrows money from her, incites her to disrupt black market pornographers. He is infatuated with Renaud, and this eventually leads to Frédérique seeking out Renaud. *Igor (unseen): Emilie's husband and father of her two young children. Member of the Thirteen. Been missing since leaving for work six months ago. Discussed in Etienne's letters, some of which Emilie buys from Frédérique. At the film's end Emilie receives a phone call from Igor asking her to meet him in Paris at Warok's. *Iris ( Ode Bitton): Pregnant nanny of Emilie and Igor's children. Solves their problem by giving to Thomas Emilie's letters to the newspapers which would have revealed the Thirteen and scandalized Pierre. *Lili (
Michèle Moretti Michèle Moretti (born 15 March 1940 in Paris, France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Amer ...
): Director of the ''Seven Against Thebes'' troupe, formerly involved with Thomas. May be involved with Quentin. Gradually recedes from the production as Renaud's influence expands. Accidentally takes a picture of Renaud which the troupe uses to try to get someone from the public to identify him. Member of the Thirteen. *Lucie (
Françoise Fabian Michèle Cortes (born 10 May 1933), known professionally as Françoise Fabian (), is a French film actress. She has appeared in more than 100 films since 1956. In 1971, Fabian signed the Manifesto of the 343 The Manifesto of the 343 (), was a F ...
): Lawyer with whom Lili renews contact after a long silence. Member of the Thirteen. Correspondent in some of Etienne's letters. Is contacted by Frédérique and meets her, but instead takes some of the letters from her. *Marie ( Hermine Karagheuz): Actress in the ''Seven Against Thebes'' troupe. Delivers one of Pierre's messages to Colin, which clearly seems to make her a member of the Thirteen. Last character seen in the film, standing next to a Paris monument. *Marlon ( Jean-François Stevenin): Thug with a criminal history who is an acquaintance of Frédérique. She encounters him in a bar, and he bizarrely beats her, but she pickpockets him during the beating. *Max (
Louis Julien Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...
): Quentin's son. Suggests the ''Seven Against Thebes'' troupe use Lili's photograph of Renaud to ask members of the public if they've seen him around. *Nicolas (
Marcel Bozonnet Marcel-Louis Bozonnet (born 18 May 1944, in Semur-en-Auxois), is a French actor. Bozonnet entered the Comédie-Française in 1982, and became a " sociétaire" in 1986. He subsequently directed the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatiq ...
): Actor in ''Seven Against Thebes'' troupe. Vaguely knew Renaud and introduced him to the rest of the group. Also known as Arsenal, Papa, or Theo. *Papa (
Marcel Bozonnet Marcel-Louis Bozonnet (born 18 May 1944, in Semur-en-Auxois), is a French actor. Bozonnet entered the Comédie-Française in 1982, and became a " sociétaire" in 1986. He subsequently directed the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatiq ...
): Actor in ''Seven Against Thebes'' troupe. Vaguely knew Renaud and introduced him to the rest of the group. Also known as Arsenal, Nicolas, or Theo. *Pauline (
Bulle Ogier Bulle Ogier (born Marie-France Thielland; 9 August 1939) is a French actress and screenwriter. She adopted the professional surname Ogier, which was her mother's maiden name. Her first appearance on screen was in ''Voilà l'Ordre'', a short film ...
): Name that Emilie goes by at her store where local youths hang out. Colin meets her there and soon falls in love with her. She abandons the shop to retreat to the Obade. See Emilie. *Pierre (unseen): Member of the Thirteen. Author of letters to Colin. Correspondent in some of Etienne's letters who may be implicated in Igor's disappearance. Emilie threatens to send evidence of this to newspapers after she pays Frédérique for the letters. *Quentin (
Pierre Baillot Pierre Marie François de Sales Baillot (1 October 1771 – 15 September 1842) was a French violinist and composer born in Passy. He studied the violin under Giovanni Battista Viotti and taught at the Conservatoire de Paris together with Pierre R ...
): Actor in the ''Seven Against Thebes'' troupe. Father to Max. Wins a million francs in the lottery, which is promptly stolen during celebrations by Renaud. Attempts to find Renaud but fails, and joins ''Prometheus Bound'' troupe briefly afterwards. *Renaud (
Alain Libolt Alain may refer to: People * Alain (given name), common given name, including list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Alain (surname) * "Alain", a pseudonym for cartoonist Daniel Brustlein * Alain, a standard author abbreviation u ...
): Brought in by Arsenal/Nicolas/Papa/Theo to help the ''Seven Against Thebes'' troupe, but gradually starts to exert more and more influence on the production, to Lili's chagrin. Steals Quentin's million francs of lottery winnings during the troupe's celebration. Turns out to be Honey Moon's crush, which allows Frédérique to find him. She soon suspects that he may be a member of a secret society (though ultimately it seems more likely to be a local gang, and not the Thirteen). He shoots and kills her when she catches him off-guard. *Rose ( Christiane Corthay): Actress in ''Prometheus Bound'' troupe. Accompanies Thomas and Achille to the Obade and comforts him during some of his hysterical episodes at the end. *Sarah (
Bernadette Lafont Bernadette Lafont (28 October 1938 – 25 July 2013) was a French actress who appeared in more than 120 feature films. She has been considered "the face of French New Wave". In 1999 she told ''The New York Times'' her work was "the motor of my e ...
): Writer living in Igor's Obade home. Thomas asks her to help him with the direction of ''Prometheus Bound'', and later has a threesome with her and Beatrice. She clashes with the group, which is a factor in the abandonment of the play, along with Beatrice's departure, which is caused by personal factors. Member of the Thirteen, she doesn't trust Thomas and strenuously attempts (unsuccessfully) to intervene to prevent Emilie from sending Pierre's letters to the newspapers. Emilie later confides her love for Colin and Igor to her. *Theo (
Marcel Bozonnet Marcel-Louis Bozonnet (born 18 May 1944, in Semur-en-Auxois), is a French actor. Bozonnet entered the Comédie-Française in 1982, and became a " sociétaire" in 1986. He subsequently directed the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatiq ...
): Actor in ''Seven Against Thebes'' troupe. Vaguely knew Renaud and introduced him to the rest of the group. Also known as Arsenal, Nicolas, or Papa. *Thomas (
Michael Lonsdale Michael Edward Lonsdale-Crouch (24 May 1931 – 21 September 2020), commonly known as Michael Lonsdale and sometimes named as Michel Lonsdale, was a French actor and author who appeared in over 180 films and television shows. He is best know ...
): Director of the ''Prometheus Bound'' troupe, formerly involved with Lili, and in ambiguously romantic relationships with both Beatrice and Sarah during the course of the film. Asks Sarah to help him direct the play. After a threesome with Sarah and Beatrice, abandons it because of Sarah's friction with the group and Beatrice's unrelated departure. Member of the Thirteen. Destroys Emilie's letters incriminating Pierre. Proposes to reunite with Lili, but is rejected by her, which leads to his final hysteria on the beach. *Warok (
Jean Bouise Jean Bouise (3 June 1929 – 6 July 1989) was a French actor. He was born in Le Havre. In the 1950s he helped to found Théâtre de la Cité, and was a player in the company. He entered films in the 1960s, and played a supporting roles in ...
): Member of the Thirteen. Referred to in Etienne's letters. Both Frédérique and Colin ask him about the group, but he denies all knowledge.


Style

After working with both
35mm film 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock * 35MM 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format ...
and
16mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...
in ''L'amour fou'', Rivette was comfortable enough with the 16mm format to work with it on ''Out 1'', the massive length of which precluded any serious attempt to shoot the whole film on expensive 35mm. Despite the immense length of the final product, the film was shot under a tight shooting schedule of only six weeks. Rivette's preference for the
long take In filmmaking, a long take (also called a continuous take or continuous shot) is a shot with a duration much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general. Significant camera movement and elaborate blo ...
was the main reason why such a schedule could be maintained. Because he wanted the performances to have a level of realism, some takes include lines "fluffed" by actors, or other common "mistakes" such as camera and boom microphone shadows, as well as unwitting extras looking at the camera in exterior shots (including a well-known scene where two young boys doggedly follow Jean-Pierre Léaud along the street during an extended monologue). Rivette has said that the intimacy of the performances in the face of such mistakes was precisely why he kept those takes in the film. Many of the rehearsal scenes, particularly those of the ''Prometheus Bound'' group, are composed almost entirely of long shots, although the film also contains more conventional editing elsewhere. The slow pacing of the film as a whole is also loosely based on Balzac, and its first few hours are constructed more like a prologue, where the editing is slower and the characters are no more than introduced. It is not until three or four hours into the film that characters' motives and the story lines begin to reveal themselves. The work also includes stylistically adventurous techniques, including the shooting of long shots through mirrors (again developing from work in ''L'amour fou''), short cuts to black to punctuate otherwise continuous scenes, short cutaways to unrelated or seemingly meaningless shots, non-diegetic sound blocking out crucial parts of the dialogue, and even a conversation in which selected lines are re-edited so that they appear to be spoken backward. However, these experiments form a fairly small part of the work as a whole, which is generally conventional in style (aside from the length of takes and of the work as a whole).


Exhibition

First shown as a work in progress at the Maison de la Culture in
Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...
, the film was re-edited down to a four-hour "short" version called ''Out 1: Spectre'', which is more accessible and available (although not widely).
Richard Roud Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...
, writing in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', called this version "a mind-blowing experience, but one which, instead of taking one 'out of this world' as the expression has it, took one right smack into the world. Or into a world which one only dimly realised was there – always right there beneath the everyday world ... the cinema will never be the same again, and nor will I." Few people have seen the full-length version, though it is championed by ''
Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...
'' critic
Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...
, who compares it to
Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, scie ...
's ''
Gravity's Rainbow ''Gravity's Rainbow'' is a 1973 novel by American writer Thomas Pynchon. The narrative is set primarily in Europe at the end of World War II and centers on the design, production and dispatch of V-2 rockets by the German military. In particular, ...
'', and has included both ''Out 1: Noli Me Tangere'' and ''Out 1: Spectre'' in the 100 films singled out from his 1000 favourite films, published in his anthology ''Essential Cinema''. ''Out 1: Noli Me Tangere'' was restored in Germany in 1990 and was shown again at the Rotterdam and Berlin Film Festivals shortly thereafter. It disappeared again into obscurity until 2004, when both ''Noli Me Tangere'' and its shorter version ''Out 1: Spectre'' featured in the programme on 1–21 June, in the complete retrospective ''Jacques Rivette Viaggio in Italia di un metteur en scène'' organized by Deep A.C. and curated by Goffredo De Pascale in Rome at the Sala Trevi Centro Sperimentale and in Naples at Le Grenoble. Then, only in the April/May 2006 Rivette retrospective at London's
National Film Theatre BFI Southbank (from 1951 to 2007, known as the National Film Theatre) is the leading repertory cinema in the UK, specialising in seasons of classic, independent and non-English language films. It is operated by the British Film Institute. Hist ...
, with the shorter film also screening twice across two subsequent nights at
Anthology Film Archives Anthology Film Archives is an international center for the preservation, study, and exhibition of film and video, with a particular focus on independent, experimental, and avant-garde cinema.Vancouver International Film Centre The VIFF Centre (formerly the Vancouver International Film Centre and the Vancity Theatre) is a movie theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, which houses the 175-seat Vancity Theatre, the 41-seat Studio Theatre, as well as the offices fo ...
organized by
Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Fest ...
programmer and
Cinema Scope ''Cinema Scope'' is an English-language film magazine published in Toronto, Canada. History and profile ''Cinema Scope'' has been published since 1999 with articles on world cinema. The magazine has compiled a list of the top 10 films of each ...
editor Mark Peranson, attended by around twenty people (22 at Peranson's initial count, before episode 1, though others came and went). A subsequent screening took place as a part of the 2006 festival over 30 September and 1 October, introduced by Jonathan Rosenbaum. The subtitled ''Out 1: Noli Me Tangere'' provides a particular challenge for exhibitors, as the
subtitles Subtitles and captions are lines of dialogue or other text displayed at the bottom of the screen in films, television programs, video games or other visual media. They can be transcriptions of the screenplay, translations of it, or informati ...
are not burned onto the print of the film itself, as is usual with most foreign films shown in North America. Rather, the subtitles for ''Out 1'', provided by the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
, are projected from a computer in a separate stream (in the Vancouver screening, just below the film itself); this then has to be synchronized with the film itself, almost certainly by someone unfamiliar with the entire ''Out 1''. Few theatres can meet this technical challenge, especially over a thirteen-hour span. In addition, the film was shot on
16mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...
at a nonstandard 25
frames per second A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...
, a speed few current projectors are equipped to handle. In the Vancouver screening, the film was projected at 24fps, adding about half an hour to the film as a whole. Screenings of both the long and short works took place in late November and December 2006, during an extensive retrospective of Rivette's work which ran at the
Museum of the Moving Image The Museum of the Moving Image is a media museum located in a former building of the historic Astoria Studios (now Kaufman Astoria Studios), in the Astoria neighborhood in Queens, New York City. The museum originally opened in 1988 as the Amer ...
in
Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City to the southwest, Sunnyside to the southeast ...
, New York City. The screening of the longer version was sold out for the 9 and 10 December 2006 screening, so the Museum held an encore performance of the film on 3 and 4 March in 2007 (which came close to selling out). It was shown on both occasions over 2 days. In interviews, Rivette has explicitly stated that the work is meant to be seen theatrically "on the big screen", and apparently dislikes it being watched on television. Ironically, the preparation of the film in eight episodes was in large part due to the "naive hope", according to Rivette, of it originally being distributed like that on French television, although his disdain for that mode of exhibition only arose after the film's completion. ''Out 1'' was restored by Carlotta Films in 2015 and made its U.S. theatrical premiere at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...
on 4 November 2015. This version has now been released on DVD and Blu-ray in the U.S., while
Arrow Films Arrow Films is a British independent film distributor and restorer specialising in world cinema, arthouse, horror and classic films. It sells Ultra HD Blu-rays, Blu-rays and DVDs online, and also operates its own subscription video on-dema ...
have released it on both formats in the UK. The restored ''Out 1'' was screened in London, England over two days at the
Prince Charles Cinema The Prince Charles Cinema (PCC) is a repertory cinema located in Leicester Place, 50 yards north of Leicester Square in the West End of London. It shows a rotating programme of cult, arthouse, and classic films alongside recent Hollywood releas ...
, Leicester Place on 28 and 29 November 2015. The screening was presented by the Badlands Collective and A Nos Amours.


Reception

''Out 1'' has garnered acclaim from critics. The film holds an aggregate score of 87/100 on
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, based on 7 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reports 100% approval based on 22 reviews, with a
weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
of 8.6/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Time is an essential character in Jacques Rivette's ''Out 1, Noli Me Tangere'', a brilliant 13-hour study of human relationships and an exploration of how a generation's dreams and ideals slowly fade as life goes ruthlessly by."


Title

''Out 1'' is known by many titles. ''Out 1: Noli Me Tangere'', the frequently-cited longer title of the film, has its origins as a phrase written on the film canister of an early workprint. This longer title was commonly understood as the film's actual title until a finished print was made in 1989 for exhibition at the Rotterdam Film Festival and as a telecine transfer for TV broadcast. At that point Rivette asserted the title on-screen as simply ''Out 1''. ''Out 1: Spectre'' is the proper title of the shorter, four-hour version, which is nonetheless a completely separate and distinctive work rather than simply a shortened form of the longer feature.


See also

*
List of longest films by running time A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...


References

*Fieschi, Jean-André. ''La Nouvelle Critique'', April 1973. *Fieschi, Jean-André. "Jacques Rivette" in Richard Roud (ed). ''Cinema: A Critical Dictionary''. New York: Secker and Warburg, 1980. *Monaco, James. ''The New Wave: Truffaut, Godard, Chabrol, Rohmer, Rivette''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1976. *Rivette, Jacques, interviewed by Carlos Clarens and Edgardo Cozarinsky. ''Sight and Sound'', Autumn 1974. *Rivette, Jacques, interviewed by Bernard Eisenschitz, Jean-Andre Fieschi, and Eduardo de Gregorio. ''La Nouvelle Critique'', April 1973. *Rivette, Jacques, interviewed by Jonathan Rosenbaum, Lauren Sedofsky, and Gilbert Adair. ''Film Comment'', September 1974. *Rosenbaum, Jonathan, ''Movies as Politics'', Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. *Rosenbaum, Jonathan, ''Placing Movies: The Practice of Film Criticism'', Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995. * Thomson, David. ''
The New Biographical Dictionary of Film ''The New Biographical Dictionary of Film'' is a reference book written by film critic David Thomson, originally published by Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd in 1975 under the title ''A Biographical Dictionary of Cinema.'' Organized by personality, ...
''. New York: Little, Brown, 2002.


Further reading

*


External links

* * * {{Jacques Rivette 1971 films 1971 drama films 1970s French films 1970s French-language films 1970s mystery drama films Films about theatre Films based on French novels Films based on works by Honoré de Balzac Films directed by Jacques Rivette Films set in Normandy Films set in Paris Films shot in Normandy Films shot in Paris French film series French mystery drama films