Robert Bresson

[Capo]

1. Pickpocket 1959
2. L'argent 1983
3. The Trial of Joan of Arc 1962
4. Mouchette 1967

[thug]

I haven't seen too much Bresson myself, but have been impressed with what I've seen. Balthasar and Mouchette are among the best movies ever made.

A Man Escaped
Au Hasard Balthazar
Mouchette
L'argent

[jake]

1. Pickpocket (1959)
2. Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)
3. L'Argent (1983)
4. Mouchette (1967)
5. Le Procès de Jeanne d'Arc (1962)
6. Les dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945)

[mikola]

Journal d'un curé de campagne (1951)
Un condamné à mort s'est échappé (1956)
Pickpocket (1959)
Argent, L' (1983)
Diable probablement, Le (1977)

[Boz]

I was surprised I actually agree with Capo here.

Pickpocket[/url] (1959)
L'Argent[/url] (1983)

[Capo]

mistamista said:

I was surprised I actually agree with Capo here.

Not sure how long that will be the case, though.

I saw Pickpocket on the big screen when the BFI released it, and I liked it. It's still of significant interest to me; I remember its editing, its rhythm and the way it invoked a sense of balletic routine to something as morally corrupt and rather ordinary as pickpocketing. But its impact has nonetheless dwindled, and so that's why I knocked it down a star when I revisited my ratings recently.

I can't wait to see L'argent again, as well as the others. I watched L'argent so late at night and so long ago that I really can't remember any scenes from it.

[Capo]

Alright: tell me how this man's a cinematic genius, people. I really, really admire the first three films above, but Mouchette just gave me a "so what?" feeling once it had finished. Didn't care for any of it, really. I was quite tired, though. Good rape/seduction scene, I'll say that.

L'argent's having a prolonged, lasting, increasingly impressive effect on me, though (I watched it on Thursday night, and I literally couldn't remember watching any of the scenes first time round a few years back - must have fell asleep or something). Its cut-aways to actions in close-up (like the over-the-counter money exchanges, or somebody grabbing somebody else by the suit collar and then throwing them away) are like something you'd find in amateur student films, but it's got an abstract, cold effect, bringing light to events and shedding some sort of otherwise missed significance on them.

I dunno, though; he's certainly not up to the hyperbolic praise he gets in a lot of the DVD extra materials and stuff.

[Kino]

admin said:

Alright: tell me how this man's a cinematic genius, people.

I'll chime in after you've seen A Man Escaped and post up your thoughts on it.

I dunno, though; he's certainly not up to the hyperbolic praise he gets in a lot of the DVD extra materials and stuff.

Could be that they genuinely think highly of his work and aren't using hyperbole to expound on their opinions.

[Capo]

Yeah, possibly - or probably. Still, though, when somebody says watching any of his films is like 'seeing Cinema for the first time'... forgive me if I cringe.

[Kino]

It's just a figure of speech. Pay it no mind.

[Capo]

I didn't, and don't. Its inclusion in the first place annoyed me. Figures of speech are empty. Anyone who uses them should be shot dead on the spot.

[Kino]

Well, it seems like to me you did pay it some mind because you said Bresson certainly doesn't live up to the hyperoblic praise. In a way you're using it to support the notion that you don't think highly of Bresson right now.

[Capo]

In a way you're using it to support the notion that you don't think highly of Bresson right now.

I don't understand that. Using what, the figure of speech?

I don't not think highly of Bresson, I just don't see the "cinematic genius" status; I suppose, much in the same way wetdog doesn't see Godard in the light many others do.

[Kino]

admin said:

In a way you're using it to support the notion that you don't think highly of Bresson right now.

I don't understand that. Using what, the figure of speech?

The "it" I'm referring to is this statement:

admin said:

I dunno, though; he's certainly not up to the hyperbolic praise he gets in a lot of the DVD extra materials and stuff.

I said pay no mind to stuff like "seeing Cinema for the first time..."

You said you didn't. I said to me you did pay a little mind to that stuff because you wrote:

I dunno, though; he's certainly not up to the hyperbolic praise he gets in a lot of the DVD extra materials and stuff.

Is all I was saying.

I don't not think highly of Bresson, I just don't see the "cinematic genius" status; I suppose, much in the same way wetdog doesn't see Godard in the light many others do.

You're right. I forgot "really, really admire the first three films above," but instead remembered the phrases, "so what?" and "didn't care for any of it" resulting in me thinking you don't think highly of Bresson. My mistake.

[pimppanda]

1. Lancelot of the Lake
2. Diary of a Country Priest
3. Four Nights of a Dreamer
4. Au Hasard Balthazar
5. L'argent
6. Pickpocket
7. The Devil, Probably
8. A Man Escaped
9. The Trial of Joan of Arc

I think.

[Anasazie]

1. Au Hasard Balthazar (1967) [blue]10/10[/blue]
2. Diary of a Country Priest (1951) [blue]10/10[/blue]
3. L'Argent (1983) [blue]10/10[/blue]
4. A Man Escaped (1956) [blue]9.5/10[/blue]
5. Mouchette (1967) [blue]9.5/10[/blue]
6. Trial of Joan of Arc (1962) [blue]9/10[/blue]
7. Pickpocket (1959) [blue]9/10[/blue]
8. The Devil Probably (1977) [blue]8/10[/blue]
9. Lancelot du Lac (1974) [blue]8/10[/blue] (i need to see this again!)
10. Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945) [blue]7/10[/blue]

[Michael]

1. Diary of a Country Priest (1951) *****
2. Mouchette (1967) ***

[RNL]

_1. A Man Escaped (1956) _*****
_2. Pickpocket (1959) _*****
_3. A Gentle Woman (1969) _*****
_4. L'Argent (1983) _*****
_5. The Trial of Joan of Arc (1962) _*****
_6. Diary of a Country Priest (1951) _*****
_7. Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) _*****
_8. Lancelot du Lac (1974) _*****
_9. Mouchette (1957) _*****
10. Ladies of the Bois de Boulogne (1945) _*****
11. The Devil Probably (1977) _*****

[quentincompson]

1.Au hasard Bathlazar 10/10
2.A Man Escaped 9/10
3.Diary of a Country Priest 9/10
4.L'Argent 9/10
5.Pickpocket 9/10
6.Mouchette 9/10
7.Une femme douce 7/10
8.Lancelot du lac 7/10


Need to see L'Argent again.

[theundergroundman]

1. Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) - 10/10
2. Pickpocket (1959) - 10/10
3. L'Argent (1983) - 10/10
4. A Man Escaped (1956) - 9.5/10
5. Mouchette (1967) - 9/10
6. Diary of a Country Priest (1951) - 9/10
7. Lancelot of the Lake (1974) - 8/10
8. The Trial of Joan of Arc (1962) - 8/10
9. A Gentle Woman (1969) - 8/10

Probably the most consistent director I know of.