La Belle Noiseuse (1991)

Absorbing film about the creative process and the psychological mindgames that ensue between an artist and his model. It runs four hours long, but that time breezes by so quickly you'll swear it was only an hour-forty-five. Jacques Rivette's direction is careful and unobtrusive, and he's content to let the camera sit and observe a sketching hand for upwards of ten mintes if he needs to. (That may not sound interesting, but trust me when I say it somehow feels like the most exciting and urgent thing in the world in context.) He also gets fine performances out of his actors, who all manage to play low-key without betraying the tempestuousness beneath the surface. By the way, I am now officially an Emmanuelle Beart fanboy (her spending roughly a third of the film completely naked kinda helped).

Grade: A-