Secret Defense (1998) review

A plot?  In a Jacques Rivette film?  It's more likely than you think: cancer researcher Sylvie Rousseau (Sandrine Bonnaire) is approached by her brother Paul (Grégoire Colin) who tells her he's convinced their late father's death on a train wasn't an accident and it was their dad's former partner (and weapons manufacturer) Walser (Jerzy Radziwiłowicz) that murdered him, so Sylvie takes a long trip to Walser's estate to enact revenge except she accidentally shoots his secretary Véronique (Laure Marsac) ... and then it turns out Véronique has a sister, Ludivine (Marsac again), who's looking for her.  Naturally, this is all told in a rather stretched out manner - sort of like salt water taffy at a confectionary stand on the boardwalk - and could have used some trimming, but that goes against the auteur's "leisurely" style, plus Bonnaire's superb performance as a guilt-ridden woman holds it together as the picture carries on - Radziwiłowicz's character, on the other hand, just inhales eggs and guzzles wine.  There's chatter in there about Sylvie's "Bad Dad" and the fate of her deceased sibling that probably should have been fleshed out further, although I figure Jacques and his writing team decided to leave that up to the audience's imagination.