Following the journey of a book from its arrival at the Legal Deposit office, rue de Richelieu, to the consultation room, Alain Resnais takes the audience through the meanders of the French National Library and the treasures it contains. Resnais instructed his crew that he wanted to move through the library like a fish in water or like a rocket. This explains the fluidity of the travelling and tacking shots which gave the film such a dynamism while the subject was totally inert.
Credits: Producer, Pierre Braunberger ; director, Alain Resnais ; writer, Remo Forlani ; photography, Ghislain Cloquet ; music, Maurice Jarre, Georges Delerue.
Cast: Jacques Dumesnil [narration only].
Content notification
Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.
Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.
How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
X001213
Language
French
Subject categories
Documentary → Documentary films - France
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)