Céline and Julie Go Boating
Reviews
badelf
**The Orphan Love Child of Harry Houdini and Timothy Leary** _Céline and Julie Go Boating_ is two children who’ve stolen the keys to the dream factory, turning the machinery on and pressing all the button at once just to see what happens. This film is pure magic. But it's not the kind that arrives with fanfare and spotlights. Rivette has crafted a quiet, subversive magic of women who’ve decided the rules don’t apply to them. Rivette’s film isn’t so much watched as it is inhabited. At three hours, it's not long - it's damned intoxicating. This is a place where a house becomes a haunted television set broadcasting the same melodrama on loop until someone dares to change the channel. Contrary to popular belief, Céline and Julie isn’t French New Wave. This is something wilder, more unruly. It's a cousin to the New Bohemian Front, that loose confederation of artists who, after the Vietnam War, treated life and art as the same chaotic experiment. Here, you can feel the kinship with Ginsberg’s The Fall of America, where poetry becomes a live wire of revelation, or Springsteen’s Nebraska, where stories are stripped to their bones and left to bleed. And like Kenneth Anger’s Scorpio Rising or Patti Smith’s Horses, it’s a work that refuses to behave, that understands art as a kind of sacred mischief. Rivette’s Paris isn’t a set, but a playground, and Céline and Julie aren’t characters so much as they are sisters, rewriting their world with the giddy audacity of kids who’ve realized no one’s watching. What makes it fascinating, technical flaws and all, is the alchemy between Berto and Labourier. They move through the film like a pair of tricksters, their energy infectious, their connection immediate and unforced. There’s a scene where they swap identities, trying on each other’s lives like dresses in a thrift store, and it’s so effortless you believe they’ve been doing this forever. They’re not acting, they’re playing; and the film becomes a testament to the power of that playfulness. This is pure Rivette style - cinema as an eyeball on improvisation. Unlike most films, the feminist theme isn’t didactic, it’s organic. It's a natural extension of the leads' dynamic. Just like Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, two forerunners of the New Bohemian Front, they’re a duo who’ve built their own world, one where men are irrelevant, and magic is real. I love the film’s surrealism because it isn’t the cold, cerebral kind. It’s warm, tactile, the kind that makes you believe, just for a moment, that if you concentrate hard enough, you could step through a mirror into Wonderland. The house where the melodrama unfolds is a perfect metaphor for the stories we inherit and the personal power we have to rewrite them. Céline and Julie don’t just watch - they intervene, they laugh, they turn tragedy into farce. It’s a reminder that the best kind of art doesn’t just reflect life; it creates possibilities. In the end, Céline and Julie Go Boating isn’t about escape. It’s about possession, it's about taking the reins of your own story no matter how strange or messy it gets. It’s a film that doesn’t just break the rules; it makes you realize the rules don't exist.
Movie Recommendation
Two Friends2015-09-23Mona, a prisoner on work release, meets Clément, a shy actor. Desperate to impress Mona, Clément recruits his extroverted friend, Abel, to help. When Mona becomes more interested in Abel, it sets off a conflict between the two friends. Meanwhile, Mona attempts to keep her past hidden.More...
Duelle1976-09-15Two enigmatic women, Leni and Viva, separately arrive in Paris, each with a hidden but shared motive. As they navigate the city and their search progresses, various characters become entangled in their conflict, one which increasingly comes to take a fantastical turn. These characters too, driven by their own desires, strive to assert their influence in the struggle. In Paris, drenched in an otherworldly ambiance, an opaque tale of desire and power emerges through mystery and secrets.More...
The Ghost of Frankenstein1942-03-13Frankenstein's unscrupulous colleague, Dr. Bohmer, plans to transplant Ygor's brain so he can rule the world using the monster's body, but the plan goes sour when he turns malevolent and goes on a rampage.More...
Pastoral: To Die in the Country1974-12-28A director faces creative block while working on his latest film – a reimagination of his adolescence growing up in a mountain village in rural Japan.More...
Get Low2010-07-30A movie spun out of equal parts folk tale, fable and real-life legend about the mysterious, 1930s Tennessee hermit who famously threw his own rollicking funeral party... while he was still alive.More...
Black Angel2002-04-12Trapped in an unhappy marriage, the wife of a high ranking Fascist official starts a dangerous, self-destructive relationship with a duplicitous S.S. Officer.More...
Inspector Ike2020-10-01After the conniving understudy of an avant-garde theater group knocks off the star actor, he finds himself in a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse with Inspector Ike, New York City's Greatest Police Detective.More...
Miss Julie2013-07-06Daughter of the manor Julie breaks off her engagement only to fall for one of her staff. A romance that begins innocently ends in a tragedyMore...
When the Tenth Month Comes1984-04-04In the final days of the war, Duyên faces a daily struggle to take care of her young son and ailing father-in-law, all the while hiding from them the fact that her husband has recently been killed in battle.More...
Analife2005-03-19The story of 2 men and 1 woman who lose their virtues in order to fill the hole in their hearts. These characters are caught up in the vicious spiral created by their desires. By coincidence, or perhaps not, the three become injured anally and find themselves in the waiting room of the same proctologist. It is here that they find a way out of their seemingly never-ending cycles.More...
Secret Defense1998-03-18After biologist Sylvie discovers her brother Paul trying to steal a gun from her lab, he explains that he wishes to avenge the death of their father whom he suspects died at the hands of his business partner.More...
Paris Belongs to Us1961-12-13A young woman joins a theatrical troupe where she slowly believes that the director is involved with a secret group and that he is in grave danger.More...
Magnetic2015-03-29On December 31st, the Earth will be destroyed. Everything you know will become nothing. Maybe it already has.More...
Land of Hypocrisy1968-10-21A man who is struggling with life's daily problems, especially his troublesome wife, accidentally runs into a man who makes bills that change human behavior, and his life changes.More...
3 Women1977-04-29Two co-workers, one a vain woman and the other an awkward teenager, share an increasingly bizarre relationship after becoming roommates.More...
The Bandit1996-11-29Baran the Bandit, released from prison after serving 35 years, searches for vengeance against his former best friend who betrayed him and stole his lover, teaming up with a young punk with his own demons along the way.More...
The Great Silence1968-11-22A mute gunslinger fights in the defense of a group of outlaws and a vengeful young widow, against a group of ruthless bounty hunters.More...
Lady J2018-09-12When a romance between a widow and a notorious libertine takes an unexpected turn, Mademoiselle de Joncquières becomes instrumental to one lover’s plans for revenge.More...
Ash Is Purest White2018-09-21Set in China's underworld, this tale of love and betrayal follows a dancer who fired a gun to protect her mobster boyfriend during a fight. On release from prison 5 years later, she sets out to find him.More...
Last Year at Marienbad1961-05-25In a strange and isolated chateau, a man becomes acquainted with a woman and insists that they have met before.More...
Similar Movies
To Be or Not to Be
1942-03-06During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.The Wages of Fear
1953-04-22In a run-down South American town, four men are paid to drive trucks loaded with nitroglycerin into the jungle through to the oil field. Friendships are tested and rivalries develop as they embark upon the perilous journey.Arsenic and Old Lace
1944-09-01Mortimer Brewster, a newspaper drama critic, playwright, and author known for his diatribes against marriage, suddenly falls in love and gets married; but when he makes a quick trip home to tell his two maiden aunts, he finds out his aunts' hobby - killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar!Ali: Fear Eats the So...
1974-03-05Emmi Kurowski, a cleaning lady, is lonely in her old age. Her husband died years ago, and her grown children offer little companionship. One night she goes to a bar frequented by Arab immigrants and strikes up a friendship with middle-aged mechanic Ali. Their relationship soon develops into something more, and Emmi's family and neighbors criticize their spontaneous marriage. Soon Emmi and Ali are forced to confront their own insecurities about their future.Some Like It Hot
1959-03-19Two musicians witness a mob hit and need to quickly find a way out of Chicago. Their only opportunity comes in the form of joining an all-girl band as they prepare to leave on a tour. The two disguise themselves as women and struggle to keep their identities secret as the gangsters close in.Metropolis
1927-02-06In a futuristic city sharply divided between the rich and the poor, the son of the city's mastermind meets a prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.Amores Perros
2000-06-16A fatalistic car crash in Mexico city sets off a chain of events in the lives of three people: a supermodel, a young man wanting to run off with his sister-in-law, and a homeless man. Their lives are catapulted into unforeseen situations instigated by the seemingly inconsequential destiny of a dog.Brazil
1985-02-20Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent man instead of wanted terrorist Harry Tuttle, he meets the woman from his daydream, and in trying to help her gets caught in a web of mistaken identities, mindless bureaucracy and lies.Before Sunrise
1995-01-27An unexpected meeting on a train leads two travelers to spend an evening wandering through Vienna. As the night unfolds, they share stories and conversations about life and love, exploring new ideas while a quiet intimacy grows between them, knowing it may be their only night together.Before Sunset
2004-06-16Nine years later, Jesse travels across Europe giving readings from a book he wrote about the night he spent in Vienna with Celine. After his reading in Paris, Celine finds him, and they spend part of the day together before Jesse has to again leave for a flight. They are both in relationships now, and Jesse has a son, but as their strong feelings for each other start to return, both confess a longing for more.Anatomy of a Murder
1959-07-01Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District Attorney Lodwick and out-of-town prosecutor Claude Dancer to set his client free, but his case rests on the victim's mysterious business partner, who's hiding a dark secret.All About My Mother
1999-04-16Following the tragic death of her teenage son, Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona in an attempt to contact the long-estranged father the boy never knew. She reunites with an old friend, an outspoken transgender sex worker, and befriends a troubled actress and a pregnant, HIV-positive nun.Three Colors: Blue
1993-09-08The wife of a famous composer survives a car accident that kills her husband and daughter. Now alone, she shakes off her old identity and explores her newfound freedom but finds that she is unbreakably bound to other humans, including her husband’s mistress, whose existence she never suspected.Three Colors: Red
1994-05-12Part-time model Valentine unexpectedly befriends a retired judge after she runs over his dog. At first, the grumpy man shows no concern about the dog, and Valentine decides to keep it. But the two form a bond when she returns to his house and catches him listening to his neighbors’ phone calls.O Brother, Where Art ...
2000-08-30In the deep south during the 1930s, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them.The 400 Blows
1959-06-03For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.Forrest Gump
1994-06-23A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.Citizen Kane
1941-04-17Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.Breaking the Waves
1996-07-05In a small, conservative Scottish village, an oilman is paralyzed in an accident. His wife, who prayed for his return, feels guilty; even more, when he urges her to have sex with another.Night of Red Wine
1967-03-26A man and a woman, both disappointed with their partners, meet by chance at the beginning of the night. They will spend the night together drinking red wine in Barcelona's Chinatown.