When a brilliant scientist discovers that her father did not die accidentally but was murdered by a family friend, she swears vengeance. She soon finds herself deeply embroiled in a mystery of lust and intrigue. And when she discovers the truth about her father, it threatens to shake her very foundation in this fascinating thriller by groundbreaking French director Jacques Rivette.
New Wave pioneer Rivette injects a heady bit of existential head-scratching into this beautifully acted, cathartic whodunit. Radziwilowicz is aces as the eerily unfathomable Walser, and the stunning, elegant Bonnaire does an excellent job of conveying her character's painful uncertainty and need to know. Rivette's exquisitely photographed film is long at nearly three hours, but once you surrender to its rhythm, the intrigue and emotional drama builds to an almost unbearable pitch. Defense" is a mesmerizing thriller about secrets and lies--and how the truth is never simple.
July 9, 2007Although this DVD of the movie is touted as widescreen, it is not anamorphic. The omission of anamorphic in the description of the format is accurate, not an oversight. So you do not get the quality improvement you might expect from a widescreen film when viewed on a widescreen television. Instead, to get the proportion right, you have to tell your DVD player that the TV is 4:3, then expand the TV picture to fill the screen.
August 28, 2006 |  | slow moving but compelling psychological thriller |  |
Rivette is not known for his brevity, not in recent years anyway. His films take patience but their momentum builds almost indiscernably to a final effect which is powerful and ultimately your pateince and attentiveness is rewarded. Rivette films are for true lovers of French films as his films meditate on life like paintings meditate on life. Action, there is barely any. This film has been referred to as a thriller and the picture on the front cover of the DVD would lead you to believe this is a thriller but that is kind of misleading as what really is being explored here is the psychological naunces of one character in particular and that character is played by Bonnaire. There is a central mystery which is the "secret" of the story but the "secret" remains so unitil the very end. And though the secret is surprising it is somewhat inconsequential. For the real power of the film is in the cumulative effect of all those scenes where Bonnaire has no idea what is driving her and making her act. It is this strange aesthetic which explains the films appeal which is great. Rivette lingers on Bonnaire who often is doing very little but riding a train or looking out a window or looking at a painting or walking through a house but there is a power in the way Rivette frames his shots. He makes very painterly compositions and his characters occupy these compositions one frame at a time, unable to see the larger picture, unable to see or judge their own actions with any authority. Insight, when it comes, comes too late. It is a film which you will watch and lose maybe a little patience with at times but its spell is a strong one and the more you think on it the more you begin to appreciate just how well the picture does what it does. Excellent film for meditative viewers who like to think while they watch.
July 31, 2002| | | Tight thriller updating the Electra myth... | |
Watch the mesmerizing, understated and finely nuanced portrayal by Sandrine Bonnaire of contemporary research biologist Sylvie Rousseau who gets entangled in a dangerous web of events--this alone is worth the purchase price. A modern update of the myth of Electra, director Rivette and his superb actors Bonnaire as well as Jerzy Radiwilowicz (as Sylvie's nemesis, Walser, ex-aide of her deceased father and now head of the high-tech weapons-manufacturing firm) have created a taut psychological thriller that unfolds in a measured manner as horrible secrets are slowly divulged. You'll be riveted to the screen with this one, but you must pay close attention: the beauty and marvel of "Secret Defense" reside in the many important details Rivette chooses to include in it. Powerful ending, too. Finally, Sylvie must be one of the most accurate representations of a real lab researcher on the non-documentary screen.
July 29, 2002Jacques Rivette has made a career based on longer films and this one is no exception; it's 2 1/2 hours long. But here there is a thriller-based plot to drive it and he fuses a thriller's momentum with extremely well thought out psychological elements.
The main character is a woman biologist played perfectly by Sandrine Bonnaire, one of the best contemporary French actresses. She leads a quiet solitary life which is dramatically interrupted when her brother bursts into her office one day and tells her that their father's death was no accident--as they supposed--but instead a murder committed by the father's business partner.
The complications that follow are all underscored by a focus on the lead character's psychology as she interacts with her brother, the business partner, her mother, and the partner's girlfriend. There are definite surprises and the ending is a powerful one.
While there are some moments here and there of drag, they are not that much in evidence and the story is strong and compelling; you could say this is riveting Rivette.
Recommended. April 24, 2002
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