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After the playful theatrical farce Va Savoir, legendary French director Jacques Rivette returns with sombre supernatural drama The Story Of Marie And Julien. Jerzy Radziwilowicz plays Julien, the reclusive clock-repairer of the title, who becomes intimately involved with an enigmatic woman, Marie (Emmanuelle Béart), whom he met briefly a year earlier. She moves into his house, but seems strangely unresponsive to physical sensations, failing even to bleed when she accidentally cuts herself. Through a wealthy businesswoman (Anne Brochet) he is blackmailing, Julien learns the dark secret behind his lover's secretive behaviour...

A project that Rivette began filming with Leslie Caron and Albert Finney in the 70s, only to abandon two days into the shoot, The Story Of Marie And Julien presents us with a mysterious love affair in which one of the participants has supernatural qualities. From the initial meeting of Julien and Marie in the park, there's a trance-like quality to the storytelling, as the film hovers somewhere between dream and 'reality', and we sense that chance and destiny are propelling events.

"BÉART SUBTLY CONVEYS HUMAN VULNERABILITY"

We're often puzzled by the characters' actions - why, for example, does Marie obsessively rearrange the furniture and decor of a particular upstairs space? - yet we're still intrigued by the goings-on at the house with its endless rooms, its multiple clocks and mirrors, and its mischievous black cat. And the candid sex scenes are unusual, in that they concentrate less on actors' bodies than on the erotic monologues solemnly delivered by the lovers. Although slow-moving and slightly muted in its emotional pay-off, the film is distinguished by a carefully layered performance from the impressive Béart, who subtly conveys Marie's other-worldly detachment and her human vulnerability.

In French with English subtitles.