Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974)
Criterion Collection
Art Direction: Eric Skillman
When making visuals for an existing piece of media, the first thing to do is experience the thing. After getting a quick synopsis from Criterion art director Eric Skillman, I sat down to watch Jacques Rivette’s Céline and Julie Go Boating—which I adored, to my ecstatic delight! It was the perfect film on which to feast after months in quarantine, staring at the CVS outside my kitchen/studio window and starving for adventure. Céline and Julie are spinning their own narrative, seizing opportunities and devouring every moment. When I discovered the two leads, Juliet Berto (Céline) and Dominique Labourier (Julie), helped write the script and were pals in real life, the movie’s focus on female friendship became even more touching. Most of the men in the film are leering buffoons, are handily discarded, and in no way drive the story. Unusual, even by today’s standards. I couldn’t wait to watch it again.
Read the rest of the story and see my process over at Criterion!
