Paris Belongs to Us (1961) review

Literature student Anne (Betty Schneider) wanders into a party of immigrants fretting over the mysterious death of a man named Juan - later, she joins up with a group of actors performing Shakespeare's Pericles, Prince of Tyre and simultaneously becomes a Pixie Detective, listening to the ranting of Philip Kaufman (Daniel Crohem) and being told she has to save Gerard (Giani Esposito).  The plot is completely muddled but considering Rivette is exploring the themes of "paranoia" and "conspiracies" it is mostly likely intentional (the line "I speak in riddles, but some things can only be told in riddles" is a clear clue) ... however, it does overstay its welcome and ceases to be engaging far before it has concluded: this auteur was never one for brevity.  A lot of the New Wave directors have guest appearances, but the scene with JLG being rejected is too hilarious to not mention.  I kind of wonder if Pinecone watched this before writing The Crying of Lot 49 ... but I guess we'll never know.