UP DOWN FRAGILE (1995) - Trailer
UP, DOWN, FRAGILE (1995) - 100% Rotten Tomatometer Score!
New 4K restoration. 169 minutes.
"Rivette pays tribute to MGMs lowbudget musicals of the 1950s in a work which lovingly defies all expectations of the genre. The film follows three women who are each at a turning point in their lives; one has just awoken from a five-year coma, the second is trying to escape her criminal boyfriend, and the third seeks her long-lost birth parents. They dance about the Paris streets before the film makes a surprising, genre-bending transformation. Many of the songs performed in the film were written by the actors themselves and infuse the film with a seemingly incongruous pairing of verité style and fantastic plotting." - Harvard Film Archive
"What Mr. Rivette has concocted might be described as a lighthearted existential romp in which life is a playful dialogue between reality and fantasy, between musical comedy and drama, and you never know when one will turn into the other." - The New York Times
"One of the ten best films of the year!...A masterpiece." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
"The antithesis of the slick Hollywood musical...graceful." - Los Angeles Times
"Inspired by MGM quickies, Rivette made a musical comedy on his backlot-the everyday haunts of Paris. This offbeat and energetic film thrives on a sense of chance as three women pursue their personal mysteries during one hot, lazy month." - BAMPFA