Pickpocket
Directed by Robert Bresson
Written by Robert Bresson
1959/France
Compagnie Cinematographique de France
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#357 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
[box] Jeanne: I don’t know. Perhaps everything has a reason.
Michel: Jeanne, are you that naïve?[/box]
This is a thoughtful and beautiful film but keeps me at a distance.
Michel has a lot in common with Crime and Punishment‘s Raskolnikov. Like Dostoevsky’s anti-hero he believes that many things are allowed to superior men. Unlike Raskolnikov, he confines his criminal exploits to theft. Much of the film is devoted to watching Michel’s increasingly audacious and skillful crimes, both with accomplices and without.
Despite his earnings, Michel lives in an austere life. He seems to have only one friend, the moralist Jacques. Michel’s mother is seriously ill. Her beautiful and virtuous young neighbor, Jeanne, encourages Michel to visit her, with little success. Michel’s life of crime continues until its inevitable collapse and a redemption of sorts …
Many great directors have had a horror of emotive “acting”. Bresson takes this to extremes and Martin LaSalle, the unknown who plays Michel, manages to betray zero emotion throughout this film. This is despite a voice-over narrative that indicates that the character experiences ecstasy, sorrow, fear and more. The result for me is that I do not care what happens to him.
The movie became a rather hollow academic philosophy exercise The search for meaning is probably what Bresson wanted from his audience but is far too cold for me. There are some very beautiful formal compositions to enjoy, however.
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