Sightlines · reception
How Céline and Julie Go Boating was received
1974 · Jacques Rivette · Céline and Julie Go Boating on Sightlines
The arc
A hit on the 70s festival circuit but a legendary rarity for decades afterward — rights limbo kept it off home video, making it cinephilia's great 'have you actually seen it?' film. Restoration and a 2021 Criterion release turned the whispered-about legend into a certified classic, high on the Sight & Sound poll.
What’s debated
The eternal Letterboxd fight: is the meandering, 193-minute whimsy 'the most fun you'll ever have at the movies' or an insufferable in-joke that takes an hour to start?
Its footprint
It's the arthouse skeleton key film buffs reach for — endlessly cited as the ancestor of Mulholland Drive and the acknowledged inspiration behind Desperately Seeking Susan, with the magic candy as its indelible image.
Where it stands
Once a cult password traded among cinephiles, now a canon climber and Letterboxd darling — the ultimate 'girls hanging out' arthouse movie.
Did you know? The film was built through improvisation with its cast: stars Juliet Berto and Dominique Labourier share the screenplay credit with Rivette, alongside co-stars Bulle Ogier and Marie-France Pisier — and the story-within-the-story is drawn from Henry James.