• Near the very end of Rivette’s Duelle, his accidental detective character (just like Paris Belongs to Us – his debut in 1961) says, ominously, “Two and two no longer makes four”… Indeed, Rivette’s Duelle is a post-modern labyrinth.
  • It is best (at least in first viewing) just to let the individual scenes and imagery wash over you
  • If the indigestibility of the plot is a nephew to Hawks’ The Big Sleep—well then the playful take on genre- the American detective film or noir– a distant cousin to Godard’s post-genre exploration Pierrot le Fou in 1965)— experimental use of color- like that film—and also the film is playful and diverting like Pierrot
  • The work with color in the mise-en-scene, both in décor and lighting, is evident in the first scene when both the happenstantial detective and mystery woman (the first of many) are wearing these green (with a tint of blue) outfits
  • These characters are ciphers, doppelgänger work as well—tying the moon to dreams and surrealism has to make you think of Lynch and Mulholland Drive (Rivette says Jean Cocteau is an influence here)
  • The driving McGuffin changes- first finding the mysterious man – really it is the detail in the décor, use of color and fascinating settings that make this a special film. The initial proposition is at a hotel, we’re then strolling around a racetrack, a jazz bar next with long tracking shot with two women dancing, then at a baccarat table, floating around another hotel room, the flush greenhouse (again and again a meeting spot), the aquarium set piece at 29 minutes with green water-it is stunning- you have this intriguing but baffling conversation right in front of this clearly green tank. A focus on background/foreground

the aquarium set piece at 29 minutes with green water-it is stunning- you have this intriguing but baffling conversation right in front of this clearly green tank. A focus on background/foreground

  • Set up with quote in the prologue- the lunar calendar and shots of the moon make for a remarkable formal achievement. Rivette bounces his narrative off at least six times
  • Hard-yellow and green lighting throughout. Literally has green lighting. Green lights on the bridge exteriors at 38 mins
  • Running throughout the film is the same bald guy (Jean Wiene) in the background of the scenes (maybe a dozen) playing diegetic piano. You know it is diegetic because you can hear the actors walking around the wooden floors which is certainly a little grating and not something you see outside of student films often (something I’m sure Rivette detractors bring up a lot)
  • Green grapes, green trench coats, green light bulbs, green drapes hanging over normal light bulbs

Green grapes, green trench coats, green light bulbs, green drapes hanging over normal light bulbs– often shot in a greenhouse as a backdrop

  • At 69 minutes bouncing the two blondes of mirrors with an intersecting camera is a nice shot—a dream occurs, the mirror breaks
  • At 100 minutes the green corridor shot with the shadow in the foreground- a stand-alone great shot—a long stalking scene

At 100 minutes the green corridor shot with the shadow in the foreground- a stand-alone great shot—a long stalking scene

  • As Rivette’s film comes to its final act, we get an abundance of red in the mise-en-scene—red jacket, red flowers in the lapel, the hypnotic jewel turns red, flames— clearly indicating descent
  • Highly Recommend / Must-See border