The Story of Marie and Julien. Julien lives alone with his cat. He dreams of Marie, and a few minutes later, he sees her on the street and makes a date. He asks her to move in with him, and she does. Her boyfriend is dead, the rest of her past a mystery. Although they quickly seem to fall in love, she sometimes pulls away suddenly from Julien, is distant, and spends the night in a hotel.
She also dreads something imminent and warns Julien that if he missteps, he will lose her and all memory of her. Julien responds by digging into her past: what explains her remodeling an upstairs garret room, her nightly dreams, her fears? What can Julien, now desperately in love, do when he learns why? Can either rescue the other?
The Story of Marie and Julien (French: Histoire de Marie et Julien) is a 2003 French drama film directed by Nouvelle Vague film maker Jacques Rivette. The film slowly develops from a drama about blackmail into a dark, yet tender, supernatural love story between Marie and Julien, played by Emmanuelle Béart and Jerzy Radziwiłowicz. Anne Brochet plays the blackmailed Madame X. Béart had previously worked with Rivette in La Belle Noiseuse, as had Radziwiłowicz in Secret Defense. The film was shot by William Lubtchansky, and edited by Nicole Lubtchansky, both frequent collaborators of Rivette’s.
The film was originally going to be made in 1975 as part of a series of four films, but shooting was abandoned after two days, only to be revisited by Rivette 27 years later. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2003 and had a cinema release in France, Belgium and the UK.
It was shown in competition at the San Sebastian International Film Festival and was nominated for the Prix Louis-Delluc. Some critics found the film tedious, long, and pretentious, while others maintained that it was moving, intelligent, and among Rivette’s best work. The film was frequently compared to other supernatural thrillers, among them Vertigo (1958), The Sixth Sense (1999), and The Others (2001).
The Story of Marie and Julien (2003)
Directed by: Jacques Rivette
Starring: Emmanuelle Béart, Jerzy Radziwiłowicz, Anne Brochet, Bettina Kee, Olivier Cruveiller, Mathias Jung, Nicole Garcia
Screenplay by: Pascal Bonitzer, Christine Laurent, Jacques Rivette
Production Design by: Emmanuel de Chauvigny
Cinematography by: William Lubtchansky
Film Editing by: Nicole Lubtchansky
Costume Design by: Laurence Struz
Makeup Department: Mona Bausson, Benoît Lestang
Distributed by: Celluloid Dreams, les films du losange
Release Date: November 12, 2003
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