36 vues du Pic Saint Loup (Around a Small Mountain) (2009)

72% of critics liked it
(18 reviews)
52% of users liked it
(159 ratings)

Jacques Rivette co-wrote and directed this intimate story of familial bonds and the life of the artist. Kate (Jane Birkin) was raised on the road, touring with the small circus run by her father, but after a disagreement she left her dad to run the show on his own. Fifteen years later, Kate gets… More Jacques Rivette co-wrote and directed this intimate story of familial bonds and the life of the artist. Kate (Jane Birkin) was raised on the road, touring with the small circus run by her father, but after a disagreement she left her dad to run the show on his own. Fifteen years later, Kate gets word that her father has died, and his partners in the circus ask her to come back to help keep the show running. To the surprise of many, Kate agrees, taking care of the box office and looking after the business. While traveling to the next show, Kate's car breaks down, but she gets a ride from Vittorio (Sergio Castellitto), a good-natured drifter. Vittorio sticks around to attend the show, and despite the shabby circumstances of the performance, he enjoys what he sees and becomes part of the company. But as Vittorio is integrated into the circus family and develops a relationship with Kate, it's still not clear why she and her father parted ways years before, and why she's come back now that he's gone. 36 Vues du Pic Saint-Loup (aka Around a Small Mountain) received its world premiere at the 2009 Venice International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 24 min.
Directed By: Jacques Rivette
Written By: Pascal Bonitzer, Christine Laurent
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Jul 9, 2010 Limited
On DVD: Mar 8, 2011
Studio: Cinema Guild

Critic Reviews

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Sometimes a film is simply a story we might have found interesting to live.
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
An elaborate trifle that can be either beguiling or baffling depending on your point of view.
A.O. Scott, New York Times
Marvelous to contemplate and changing slightly every time you see it.
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
The cast is first-rate, as is the cinematography by Irina Lubtchansky. But the story, co-written by Rivette, is paper-thin and stagy.
Boyd van Hoeij, Variety
Will interest Rivette admirers at fests and in the niche arena but will do nothing to broaden his appeal.
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice
It's all slight enough to blow away, and rare enough to warrant seeing it before it does.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
It has most of Rivette's usual touches, and it's charming, but it just seems to go by too fast without settling on anything.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Was too slight and wasn't entertaining enough for me to go gaga over it.
Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion
Though small in scope and running-time...deals in substantial human issues, and does so with grace and an odd charm.
John Hartl, Seattle Times
Rivette is 82 now, and his best work may be behind him.
Robin Clifford, Reeling Reviews
...a visual treat though not emotionally satisfying.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Cinematical
It's charming and has most of Rivette's usual touches, but it feels like a minor film.
Eric Monder, Film Journal International
Circus drama from famed helmer is more curio than classic.
Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York
Never is the material excited into the kind of playful uncertainty that Rivette all but trademarked; the inertness of the performances robs the movie of spirit.
Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews
Jacques Rivette indulges his love of theater with this offbeat, low key love story punctuated by acts from aerialists, tumblers and tightrope walkers.
Andrew Schenker, Slant Magazine
The film shares a lot of qualities with the director's best work.

Read all 16 critic reviews

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Walter M

Even with a relatively brief running time, Jacques Rivette is in no hurry with the deliberate pacing in his latest film, "Around a Small Mountain," as if he is unwilling to say farewell to the dying artform of the traveling circus, this one being sparsely attended. In fact,… More
Even with a relatively brief running time, Jacques Rivette is in no hurry with the deliberate pacing in his latest film, "Around a Small Mountain," as if he is unwilling to say farewell to the dying artform of the traveling circus, this one being sparsely attended. In fact, mortality hangs over the movie, not only with the circus' death defying acts but also in its signature Entrance that the movie keeps returning to. Another way of looking at the circus is like something out of the past like Vittorio's(Sergio Castellitto, also one of the screenwriters) gentlemanly behavior towards Kate(Jane Birkin) in coming to her rescue when she breaks down on the side of the road on the way to return to the circus for the first time in fifteen years.