La Belle Noiseuse(1991)

3h 58m
- Drama

Release Date: Oct 4, 1991 | Limited

100%
82%
7.5

The former famous painter Frenhofer revisits an abandoned project using the girlfriend of a young visiting artist. Questions about truth, life, and artistic limits are explored.

Official Website

Note: Distributed by MK2 USA

Releases

Original Release | Oct 4, 1991

2017 Re-release (Cohen Media Group) | Nov 24, 2017

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Box Office Results

Updated as of Jan 31, 2025 12:01 PM ET

All Releases (2)
Total US & Canada:
$403,056
Total International
$0
Total Worldwide:
$403,056

Total US & Canada:
$399,516
Total Worldwide:
$399,516

Current Showtimes

orround

Sun Aug 16
Mon Aug 17
Tue Aug 18
Wed Aug 19
Thu Aug 20
Fri Aug 21
Sat Aug 22

Director & Top Cast

Jacques Rivette
Director

Michel Piccoli
Edouard Frenhofer

Jane Birkin
Liz

Emmanuelle Béart
Marianne

Marianne Denicourt
Julienne

David Bursztein
Nicolas

Gilles Arbona

Porbus

Marie Belluc

Magali

Marie-Claude Roger

Françoise

Leïla Remili

La servante

Daphne Goodfellow

Deux touristes

Susan Robertson

Deux touristes

Bernard Dufour

La main du peintre

Technical Specifications

Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: France,Switzerland

Language: French,English,Hebrew

Summaries

Plot Summary

On a Monday, early July, Nicolas (David Bursztein), a young and upcoming painter, visits a reclusive but famous painter Edouard Frenhofer (Michel Piccoli) along with his girlfriend Marianne (Emmanuelle Béart). Frenhofer lives quietly with his wife and one of his former models Liz (Jane Birkin) in a rambling château in the French countryside. They are introduced by Porbus Balthazar (Gilles Arbona) an admirer of Nicolas's work and a former lover of Liz. Porbus is a chemist who made his fortune by inventing a chemical formula and now is an art collector.In his prime, Frenhofer was an extremely productive painter. But of late he has not been working with his last art exhibition being over ten years ago. However, he lives a comfortable life with his wife and a housekeeper Françoise (Marie-Claude Roger) and her daughter Magali (Marie Belluc). We also come to know that Marianne is a writer and has published a children's book and that Liz loves practice taxidermy as a hobby with many rare and endangered birds in her collection.During a visit to Frenhofer's studio and later at dinner, Frenhofer recounts starting a masterpiece titled "La Belle Noiseuse" after reading about a 17th century courtesan named Catherine Lescault with his wife as the model for the painting. However, he was not able to finish it and regrets not 'going all the way'. On Balthazar's and Nicolas's suggestion of using Marianne to be his muse for restarting the work on "La Belle Noiseuse", he agrees. Nicolas and Marianne have a fight over Nicolas agreeing to this without asking her first.However, the next day, Marianne goes to Frenhofer's chateau to pose for him in nude. At first they are both slightly awkward with each other with Frenhofer making a few mistakes while sketching her. However, the next day, Frenhofer demands more from her, making her to pose in contorted positions as he wants the real Marianne to come out in the painting and is prepared to even break her to achieve this. He sketches several drawings but is not able to get what he wants. On the third day, Marianne begins to assert herself in the painting process by doing what she feels like to get her emotions out into the canvass. Finally, Frenhofer is able to get what he wants and completes the painting.Meanwhile, Nicolas grows increasing uncomfortable with Marianne posing for Frenhofer as he fears that he might lose her. He confides this to Liz who reassures him that Frenhofer is a gentleman. Also, Marianne refuses to stop posing for Frenhofer and ridicules Nicolas's hypocrisy. Nicolas confides this to his sister Julienne (Marianne Denicourt) who manages his artworks for him. This prompts her to drive all the way to the village to visit him. Also, Liz who discovers, by accident, that Frenhofer has painted the new "La Belle Noiseuse" over the old one for which she had posed, becomes unhappy and considers this a betrayal. She also warns Marianne to not look at the painting after it has been finished as she may not like what she sees.Once the painting is finished, Frenhofer invites Marianne to see it. After seeing the painting, she leaves in a huff, later confiding to Julienne that she found the painting to be cold and dry which she thinks is a true reflection of her personality. Frenhofer later covers up the painting and with the help of Magali hides it behind a brick wall and asks Magali to keep this secret forever. He then proceeds to paint another painting which he displays to everyone the next day as the "La Belle Noiseuse". Marianne and Liz are happy that he did not display the real painting and they reconcile with their respective partners.

Storyline

The former famous painter Frenhofer lives quietly with his wife in his countryside residence in the French Provence. When the young artist Nicolas visits him with his girlfriend Marianne, Frenhofer decides to start working again on a painting called 'La Belle Noiseuse', which he gave up a long time ago. And he wants Marianne as a model. The ensuing creative process will change the characters' lives. It will become a struggle for truth and meaning, and the question about the limits of art will arise. — Jens Bertheau Since abandoning painting 10 years ago, famous artist Edouard Frenhofer lives quietly with his wife in the countryside of southern France. When visited by a young painter and his girlfriend Marianne, Frenhofer is inspired to start working again on his masterpiece: The Beautiful Troublemaker. He chooses Marianne to replace his wife as model. — Happy_Evil_Dude

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