Rivette, Jacques (1928- )

French film director and critic. An exceptionally intellectual film-maker, his films display a fascination with the arts, especially theatre, exploring its capacity for truth and its ability to deceive. Many of his cinematic works disregard conventional notions of length: Out 1: Noli Me Tangere (1970), for example, lasts over 12 hours, and La Belle Noiseuse (1991) over 4 hours.

He joined the editorial board of the influential film journal Cahiers du Cinéma in 1952. He is considered one of the founders of the French nouvelle vague, or new wave, film movement. He began work on his first film, Paris nous appartient in 1957, though it was not released until 1961.

His films include La Religieuse (1965), L'Amour fou (1968), Out 1: Spectre (1973), Céline et Julie vont en bateau/Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974), Le Pont du Nord/The North Bridge (1981), L'Amour par terre/Love on the Ground (1984), the two-part Jean la Pucelle/Joan the Maid (1993), Famille (1998), and Va Savoir!/Who Knows! (2001).