Browsing through the library feature of Mubi, I stumbled across Duelle (1976; Duelle (une quarantaine), directed by Jacques Rivette, and I was drawn in by the plot summary describing a battle between the Daughter Of The Moon (Juliet Berto) and the Daughter Of The Sun (Bulle Ogier). A fantasy battle is embedded in noir styled scenes of stylishly dressed characters conversing in old hotel lobbies, bars, hotel rooms. A sister – a hotel clerk and amateur sleuth (Hermine Karagheuz ) and brother – a performer and magician (Jean Babilee) – are caught in the struggle as these mysterious women search for a mystical diamond. The film doesn’t feel like a fantasy until the halfway mark when a character breaks a mirror through touch (and their mind seemingly), but even with all the weirdness and surrealism, everything tonally feels grounded and subdued. It is a puzzle – what does this all mean? After awhile, the otherworldly struggle is analogous to any other power play between countries or corporations or “sides”. Obvious comparisons might be David Lynch, but this feels more playful, lighter in tone; a puzzle all the same. The aesthetics are entertaining with the outfits worn (suits, capes, canes, fedoras, scarves) and the mise en scene organised, which often include the presence of live piano playing in the background, sometimes revealed only gradually when we assume two characters are alone in a room. I’m keen to see more of Rivette’s work, particularly the three hour critically acclaimed Celine and Julie Go Boating, and his later period four hour film about painting that I once watched for a Philosophy and Film class, La Belle Noiseuse, is brilliant. If you find yourself curious about Duelle, you’ll be rewarded if you have a delight for the slow and the strange. Recommended.
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