Bernard Eisenschitz Movies

Jacques Rivette's epic-scale meditation on art, politics and relationships is an eight-part, 740 minute drama that begins as an examination of two Parisian theater companies. Lili (Michele Moretti) is a member of an experimental troupe preparing a radical new interpretation of Aeschylus's Seven Against Thebes, while Thomas (Michel Lonsdale) is in charge of a state-funded group who are rehearsing another work by the same ancient Greek playwright, Prometheus Unbound. Drifting in and out of the orbit of these two groups are Sarah (Bernadette Lafont), an author and longtime friend of Thomas; Colin (Jean-Pierre Léaud), a deaf street musician; Frederique (Juliet Berto), a sexy confidence woman, and the bohemian owner of a knick-knack shop who often changes her name (Bulle Ogier), among many others. Colin tries to search out the meaning of a strange note handed to him by a mysterious stranger, while Frederique becomes party to a similar message. As it happens, both learn of the possible existence of a secret society of thirteen powerful individuals who are the true rulers of Paris, but neither is sure if the group exists in history or the present day, and they have very different notions of what to do with this information. Jacques Rivette originally screened Out 1 as a work in progress (titled Out 1: Noli Me Tangere) at a pair of screenings in Paris in the fall of 1971; it was originally conceived as a project for television, but became a theatrical film after it was rejected by French broadcasters. While a four-hour version, Out 1: Spectre, began making the rounds of film festivals in 1974, the film didn't appear in its full twelve-hours-plus version until 1989, when a new cut of Out 1 appeared at the Rotterdam Film Festival. The final cut of Out 1 appeared with English subtitles in London in 2006, and has subsequently been screened in Vancouver, New York City and Chicago. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This gentle French comedy has a meandering plotline as it traces the exploits of a young man recognized as a the son of a star. The main protagonist is 23-year old Harvey who works as the guide for a group of Georgian singers who have a Paris gig. He is interested in Dinara, the 18-year old interpreter for the group. While in a restaurant, they encounter Marco Garciano who tells them he played the small lad in Crin blanc, a classic French film. He is really a half-time chauffeur and con-artist. Marco tells Harvey that he is the son of Gascogne, the father of the New Wave, and close friend and inspiration to many directors between 1958 and 1962. Marco tries to prove his point by taking Harvey and Dinara to meet some former French film impresarios. They see Alexandra Stewart and Bernadette Lafont. They also meet Claude Chabrol while he eats lunch. They meet many more including director Michel Deville. All they meet are convinced that Harvey is indeed Gascogne's son. Many of the female stars claim to be his mother. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This difficult-to-follow arthouse film explores the parallel stories of two very idealistic Zionist women who never met in real life. The story concerns the German poet Elsa Lasker-Schuller and the Russian Mania Schochat. Elsa (Lisa Krezer) lives in 1920's Berlin as Germany is degenerating into the chaos from which Hitler will emerge. Mania (Rivka Neumann) is living in Palestine, amid some of the first and most rigorous experiments in genuinely Marxist living, at a radical kibbutz. Each survives to be present at the beginning of the Jewish state, and each is sorely disillusioned. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide