# Haut bas fragile (1995)

### reviewed by
Dennis Schwartz

UP/ DOWN/ FRAGILE (HAUT/ BAS/ FRAGILE)(director/writer: Jacques Rivette; screenwriter: Laurence Côte/Pascal Bonitzer/Christine Laurent; cinematographer: Christophe Pollock; cast: Marianne Denicourt (Louise), Nathalie Richard (Ninon), Laurence Côte (Ida), Andre Marcon (Roland), Anna Karina (Sarah), Bruno Todeschini (Lucien), 1995-Fr.)

    Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

The title comes from the markings found on packages delivered by the postal service. The inspiration of the film comes from the studio-like Hollywood musicals of the '50s. According to Rivette, he was most influenced by Stanley Donen's musical GIVE A GIRL A BREAK (1953). His other influences are the great French directors of the past, such as Renoir and Vigo. I rented UP DOWN FRAGILE, along with Rivette's first feature, PARIS BELONGS TO US (1960), and it was interesting to see how Rivette kept some of the same themes, how one has the need to be alone and also the need to be with a group, how one handles reality and fantasy, and the politics of being. It is his firm belief that the individual alone is responsible for his life's direction, it is one's responsibility to take charge of one's life not anyone else'. In his newer film, which was stylistically and cinematically a much more sophisticated and well-done production than the former, we see these themes come out clearer, brought out by a director who is more assured of his abilities to work with actors on a more experimental basis, as they each collaborate on the script, as he gets them to improvise in their roles.

The film follows the life of its three main characters: Ninon (Natashe), Louise (Marianne), and Ida (Laurence), as they try to work out their many problems in life, occasionally breaking out in song and dance at the oddest moments, even when the film is moving along in a dramatic fashion. This lighthearted approach to the film annoyed me on my first viewing, but when I watched the film for a second time, I felt more relaxed and was able to get in the mood Rivette probably intended for his film to be viewed; which is, that it is up to me to fill in the meaning of the story. But, this also, allowed me not to take this film as a very serious work but more or less as a spectacle in the Hollywood tradition, a tradition that Rivette gladly acknowledges a kinship and admiration for.

Its entertainment value was enhanced by the gorgeous use of colors, which captured the summertime Paris streets and parks, as well as the beautful indoor sets. We followed the moped messenger, ex-whore, Ninon, do her deliveries. Then we viewed Louise's splendidly delicious living quarters; she is from an upper-class family, having just been released from a clinic after being five-years in a coma following an accident. She is being followed for her own protection by an neophyte bodyguard, Lucien (Bruno), hired by her father without her knowledge to protect her. She will awkwardly meet and fall in love with him. Ida is the adopted orphan, working as a librarian, looking for her real parents, wanting to find out why they put her up for adoption, still plagued by that. Roland (Andre) is the set designer, the male thread that connects all three women heroines, the Gene Kelly look-alike. He meets Louise in her aunt's house, the one she has just inherited; he falls in love with Ninon at the site of their respective workplaces, which are on the same street, where she works as a messenger and he designs stage sets; and, lastly, he meets Ida while doing research in the library she works at, hearing her hum a tune that he recognizes, which turns out to be a song Sarah (Anna) uses in her nightclub act, a place he often frequents. Sarah is the real mother Ida has been looking for.

That this musical is better than most of the Hollywood musicals it flatteringly immitates, is true to a certain extent. It is better in the sense, that Rivette is able to bring out the poetry of the real-life situations and present his existential view of life and not just play for the song and dance to be the thing.Though the Hollywood performers are more professional and have better voices and quicker feet, is certainly true, but they also, seem to rely on an artificial story. While for Rivette, as amateur as his performers might seem to be in comparison, the story still seems real and important, and the musical numbers are intrusive but seem to be imbued with a magical quality about them, that makes them seem just as fantasy oriented as the typical Hollywood production; and, in my opinion, that makes for a more interesting and better film. Though it makes for a different way for American audiences to appreciate the musical, a form of film that Hollywood at one time was the most innovative creators of, but has now all but abandoned that genre because of high production costs and not enough box office gross to show for its efforts.

    REVIEWED ON 1/7/99                     GRADE: B

Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"

    http://www.sover.net/~ozus

    ozus@sover.net

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