Veteran director Jacques Rivette—known for his three-to-four hour epic films like La Belle Noiseuse—here serves up a much shorter fable about overcoming the past, following an old-fashioned circus that travels around southern France playing comic scenes, high-wire acts, and other bits on a small scale to equally modest-sized audiences. As we join the troupe, so do two recent arrivals: Kate (Jane Birkin), who left the company, which had been founded by her father some 15 years earlier; and Vittorio (Sergio Castellitto), a wandering Italian who helps Kate with her car, then visits the circus and chooses to stick around. What follows is a tale of unburdening as members of the group talk about remorse and reveal secrets under Vittorio's gentle prodding. Around a Small Mountain features no melodramatic flourishes; everything is played with wry understatement, leaving room for pauses and quiet reverie. A fond paean to a form of old-style entertainment that is going the way of vaudeville, this graceful, charming film is recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by film scholar Chris Fujiwara, an interview with star Jane Birkin (9 min.), an essay by Film Quarterly editor Rob White, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a fine foreign film.] (F. Swietek)
Around a Small Mountain
Cinema Guild, 84 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $29.95, Mar. 8 Volume 26, Issue 2
Around a Small Mountain
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