La Belle Noiseuse

The painter Edouard Frenhofer has lived in seclusion in the south of France for years, having long ago abandoned a large canvas intended to be his greatest work, for which his wife Liz once posed. When a young artist named Nicolas arrives at the property with his girlfriend Marianne, Frenhofer decides to take up the unfinished painting again, with Marianne as his new model. Over a series of sittings, the shared work unsettles the relationships among the people gathered there, including Frenhofer's marriage. Jacques Rivette directed the drama, which Pascal Bonitzer, Christine Laurent and Rivette wrote, and Martine Marignac produced. The film runs 238 minutes and was released in 1991, following Rivette's earlier features The Nun and Céline and Julie Go Boating. Michel Piccoli plays Frenhofer, Emmanuelle Béart plays Marianne, Jane Birkin plays Liz, and David Bursztein plays Nicolas, with Marianne Denicourt and Gilles Arbona in supporting roles. The film holds an 8.2 out of 10 critics' rating from 28 reviews, while audiences rate it 7.3 out of 10 on TMDB across 299 votes.