Gang of Four (1989) review

An all-female troupe (including Fejria Deliba, Laurence Côte, Bernadette Giraud and Nathalie Richard) - led by tough but fair Constance (Bulle Ogier) - are just busy living and rehearsing when a man named Thomas (Benoît Régent) - or is it Henri? - shows up asking a lot of questions, sleeps with one of them and keeps looking around for a key.  It wouldn't be a Rivette film without the combination of theatre, some conspiracy happening ("the world is full of loonies") and supernatural elements - not to mention the prerequisite vagueness (that can be irritating, considering the close to three hour running time) - and yet it's still engrossing, since the ladies are charming, and at one point they "improvise" a courtroom trial.  Rivette's also being self-referential: a certain painting called La Belle Noiseuse is mentioned ... which would just so happen to be the name of the next picture in his filmography....