Merry-Go-Round

1983 • 160 minutes

About this movie

Starring Joe Dallesandro (Trash, Flesh for Frankenstein) and Maria Schneider (Last Tango in Paris, The Passenger), Merry-Go-Round is perhaps the cultiest of Jacques Rivette’s films, as well as his most surreal. Ben (Dallesandro) and Léo (Schneider) are summoned to France by Elisabeth (Danièle Gégauff) via telegram. Ben, who is a former boyfriend of Elisabeth, and Léo, her sister, have never met before, but on arriving in Paris are flung together to embark on a strange adventure. Beset by production difficulties – Schneider walked off the set, leaving her to be replaced by Rivette favourite Hermine Karagheuz as ‘The Other’ – Merry-Go-Round nevertheless stands out as one of the director’s most beguiling works, as confounding and beautiful as any of his better-known films. (Original Title - Merry-Go-Round) - 1981 Arrow Films