A spinster gets revenge on her cousin's family by enlisting the help of a beautiful woman, after they take away the only man that mattered to her. Poor relations: A spinster living a meager existence as an embroiderer, Bette Fischer takes on an impoverished young sculpor as a protégé, a business arrangement that becomes a labor of love. When her wealthy cousin Adeline Hulot teases her about a sweetheart, Bette brags about her handsome starving...

The former famous painter Frenhofer revisits an abandoned project using the girlfriend of a young visiting artist. Questions about truth, life, and artistic limits are explored. "The Grand Prix winner at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival, La Belle Noiseuse (aka The Beautiful Troublemaker) is legendary French New Wave director Jacques Rivette's intimately epic exploration of the convergence between artistry and eroticism. Edouard Frenhofer is a reclusive...

Four separate stories are intercut and eventually intermix involving the members of two theatrical troupes, stolen letters, blackmail, etc.