Around a Small Mountain
Around a Small Mountain () is a 2009 French drama film directed by Jacques Rivette, which was his final film before his death on 29 January 2016, and starred Jane Birkin and Sergio Castellitto. It was screened in the main competition at the 66th Venice International Film Festival. Plot. Kate (Jane Birkin) is driving along a winding mountain road when her car stalls. Vittorio (Sergio Castellitto) happens along, stops, and fixes her car without ever speaking to her. After he drives away, he slows down and decides to turn back. Something about the woman has interested him . Later in town, Vittorio learns that Kate has returned to join her family's traveling circus after leaving under mysterious conditions fifteen years ago. Kate's lover was killed during a performance. Intrigued by Kate's story, Vittorio stays for the show, and then decides to stay in town for a while, booking the room above a local cafe. He begins to attend all the shows, fascinated by the circus and the lives of its performers—all the while trying to discover the secret that led to Kate's sudden departure. When the circus caravan leaves town, Vittorio follows. With  nowhere to go and nothing else to do, both he and Kate seem to be running away with the circus. Gradually he learns about the buried past of the circus and the buried careers of its performers. Reception. Critical reception. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 74% based on 19 reviews, and an average rating of 6.3/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". In his review for the "Chicago Sun-Times", Roger Ebert gave the film three  out of four stars, writing: