I travelled to the IFC Centre in New York just to see this one, as the full version is a favourite of mine, but I have never seen the short(er) version, and couldn't miss this opportunity.
Jacques Rivette's re interpretation of his own thirteen hours long, Out 1, changing the sequence of events, omitting much of the humour, bringing its loose plot threads into a (slightly) more tight (alternative) form, losing the episode breaks, also losing some of its cinema verite/ documentary feel, and focusing more on Michael Lonsdale's character, making him more dominant than before. Also featured are a couple of scenes omitted from the thirteen hours long cut, as these intensely creative characters search for sinister meaning in coincidences, in post May 1968 Paris (which, as with the longer cut, the city, in and of itself, becomes a character in the plot). I highly recommend both the original thirteen hours long version, as well as this less long, four and a half hours long cut, especially if you have the opportunity to see it in a cinema.