CELINE AND JULIE GO BOATING ("Celine et Julie vont en bateau", 1974)

What's it all about... oh, who can remember? A haunted house, time-travel candy, and surprisingly little boating - all of these and more await you in Jacques Rivette's mystical, magical, mystery box of eternal return. Join us as we take a big psychedelic bite of this surreal epic about the difficulties of reconstructing the past (and the present!) ...

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CÉLINE AND JULIE GO BOATING ("Céline et Julie vont en bateau", 1974)
Dir. by Jacques Rivette
Available to stream on Kanopy or the Criterion Collection. If neither service works for you, you can watch the film at the following links:
Part 1 Link
Part 2 Link

How far down does the rabbit hole go? Julie, an amateur magician, is studying in the park one day when the enigmatic Celine accidentally drops her scarf in passing by. After chasing her down to return the lost article of clothing, Julie becomes fast friends with Celine and the two shortly move in together, bonding quickly over the puckish intimacy of pranks and secret-sharing. One secret in particular grabs her attention - Celine keeps having these flashbulb memories of a house, the inhabitants of which she can hardly place but seem as vivid in her mind as the world in front her. Upon visiting the house in question, both women discover in turn that they can't pass beyond its mystery-laden front doors without being struck with an immediate amnesia about what goes on within. But magic is on their side, and with a bit of investigation, a little alchemy, and some fourth-wall-breaking fantasy, they start to piece together the dark secret of the haunted estate - now all that's left to do is but those pieces in order!

Reminiscent of mind-benders like Mulholland Drive and Daisies, Céline and Julie Go Boating tugs at limits of filmic reality, suggesting that all of the past is lost footage waiting for a keen-eyed editor to put it together. A little eerie but ultimately exuberant, pretty lengthy but narratively rewarding, Rivette's film is an (extra) surreal take on Alice in Wonderland with a heavy dose of mind-altering theatricality. Let's talk about it!

*As a reminder, this is solely a movie discussion group - we encourage you to watch the film independently prior to coming to the meetings.