Merry-Go-Round

Merry-Go-Round is a French experimental mystery directed by Jacques Rivette. Shot in 1977, it remained unreleased for years: it premiered in Germany in 1981 and only reached French screens in 1983.

At the heart of the film lies a kidnapping, but instead of shaping this premise into a standard thriller, Rivette treats it with a loose, improvisational approach closer to a free-form crime drama. Maria Schneider and Joe Dallesandro star, with Michel Berto, Maurice Garrel, Danièle Gégauff and Françoise Prévost among the supporting players. Rivette co-wrote the script with Eduardo de Gregorio and Suzanne Schiffman, de Gregorio supplying the dialogue. Running over two and a half hours, the picture is often cited as typical of Rivette's adventurous, playfully structured filmmaking in the 1970s.