I finally saw the film today, and it really is a treat watching Rivette's films in relatively short order. This one baffled me in ways that you should almost expect from Rivette. I wasn't at all prepared for what happened, but with Rivette you have to just let him work at his own pace. The ending defintely seems to echo most of his undramatic climaxes, and certainly fits well within his body of work. Beart was great as arsaib pointed out, and its nice to know Rivette is still going strong.