Robert Bresson

The film style of Robert Bresson is the subject of this documentary tribute to the French director and screenwriter, and to his minimalist auteur films about sensitive individuals (or even animals) trying unsuccessfully to survive in a cruel world. Weg Naar Bresson is divided into several segments with specific themes, such as "camera" or "theory," that are illustrated by film clips, and interviews with Bresson himself (a coup), and also with acclaimed directors Andrei Tarkovsky, Louis Malle, and Paul Schrader (who also wrote a book on three directors, including Bresson). The knowledge and experience revealed in each interview, and the examples of the film clips are clear indicators that the 54-minute running time of this documentary is too short, and should have been extended to do full justice to Bresson and his films. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In order to be technically free of the mortal sin of suicide, a young man who has given up on the world pays a drug-addict to shoot him. Charles (Antoine Monnier), who is a student, has tried political action and investigated the claims of religion but ultimately finds nothing which will change the overwhelming bleakness he feels surrounded by. In this austere movie by director Robert Bresson, the power of the storytelling comes from the lucidity of the imagery captured on film, rather than in the acting. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Four Nights of a Dreamer is a loose adaptation of Dostoyevsky's novella White Nights, with the action transposed from 19th century Russia to modern-day France. One night, Jacques (Guillaume Des Forets), a young man with artistic aspirations, sees a girl (Isabelle Weingarten) trying to commit suicide by jumping from a bridge. When he prevents her from jumping, Marthe tells him that she has become desperate waiting for her lover, who left her almost a year ago but promised to return. Jacques asks Marthe to meet him by the bridge the next night and the girl agrees. They spend the following three nights wandering through Paris, and Jacques tries in vain to cure Marthe of the memories of her elusive lover. The same story was previously filmed by Luchino Visconti as Le Notti Bianche. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide

Robert Bresson directed this grim but moving story of a girl forced to grow up quickly due to the unfortunate circumstances which surround her. Mouchette (Nadine Nortier) is a fourteen year old girl living in a rural village in France; while it's the mid-1960's, in many respects her community looks as if it could still be World War II, or even the turn of the century, and a number of the men earn their living though poaching game. Mouchette's mother (Marie Cardinal) is slowly dying of an incurable illness, while her father (Paul Hebert) is a heavy drinker who shows little concern for his daughter, often using a hard shove as a parenting technique. Mouchette is an outcast at school, works odd jobs to help her family's meager circumstances, and has developed a thinly veiled contempt for most of those around her. One of the few places Mouchette feels at home is in the woods, and when a heavy storm breaks out while she's making her way home from school, she happens upon Arsene (Jean-Claude Guilbert), a poacher who allows her to stay in his cabin for the night; he forces himself upon her sexually, but after her initial resistance Mouchette seems to almost welcome his attention. When Mouchette is made party to an act of violence between Arsene and a rival gamekeeper, she's forced into a complicated lie, and after the death of her mother, her shabby existence becomes almost too much to bear. Based on a novel by Georges Bernanos, Mouchette was (like many of Robert Bresson's films) largely cast with non-professional actors, and shot using a deliberately simple, ascetic style; the result was honored with major awards at the Cannes Film Festival and Venice Film Festival, and was named Best Film of 1967 (along with Luis Bunuel's Belle de Jour) by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Characteristically breaking with tradition, director Robert Bresson presents a realistic, unique view of the life and death of Joan of Arc. Using a script based on the actual transcript notes taken during her trial, Bresson focuses on the psychological and physical torture that Joan had to endure, showing how these techniques were used to break her resolve and cause her to eventually recant her faith. With impeccable historical accuracy Bresson re-creates the story of the peasant girl who, after leading an unsuccessful revolt against the government, was brought to trial, convicted of heresy, and burned as a witch. However, Bresson shows Joan (Florence Carrez) as a woman more sophisticated and calculating and less naive than she has normally been represented. His Joan, while more real, is no less heroic than the traditional Joan. This unusual approach is characteristic of this unique director who defies classification as either a traditional or "new wave" filmmaker while being highly respected for pursuing his own individual style and vision. Robert Bresson has been called a poet and philosopher with a camera, preoccupied with the idea of predestination and spiritual grace. In Proces de Jeanne d'Arc, as with all of his films, Bresson imprints his own personal signature. The film is tightly constructed and stripped to the bare essence of the material. Bresson has made only a handful of feature films, yet he is one of the most discussed and revered figures in cinema, creative, original and unique. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

In a genre crowded with quality films, director Robert Bresson's POW drama has become legendary, in part because it strips down the experience of a man desperate to escape to the essentials. That's in keeping with the approach Bresson took with all of his films. The filmmaker, who spent a year in a German prison camp during World War II, based this story on the experiences of Andre Devigny, a French Resistance fighter sent in 1943 to the infamous prison in Lyons, where 7,000 of the 10,000 prisoners housed there died either by natural means or by execution. Lt. Fontaine (Francois Leterrier) is certain that execution awaits him, and he almost immediately begins planning his escape, using homemade tools and an ingenuity for detecting the few weaknesses in the prison's structure and routine. For a time, he goes it alone, then takes on a partner, but only reluctantly. Fontaine does get some help from a couple of prisoners allowed to stroll in the exercise yard, but for the most part he is a figure in isolation. For Bresson, the process of escape is all, and in simplifying his narrative he ratchets up the tension, creating a film story of survival that many feel is without peer. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide

Though this interesting film was among many responsible for the critical success of French autuer Robert Bresson, it was by no means a commercial success. Slightly different than his other films, director Bresson utilized the contrasty photography of Philippe Agostini (Sylvie et le Fantome, Monde du Silence) and chose professional actors Paul Bernard (Lumiere D'ete), Maria Casares (Enfants du Paradis), and Elina Labourdette (Shanghai Drama) to star rather than non-professionals. With dialogue written by writer/filmmaker Jean Cocteau, Les Dames du Bois du Boulogne was adapted to the screen by Bresson from an interpolated anecdote in Diderot's Jacques Le Fatalist. Casares plays Helene, a passionate but self-controlled woman who is seething after her lover Jean (Bernard) confesses he no longer loves her. Driven by revenge, Helene engineers a plan to attack Jean via Agnes (Labourdette), the woman he truly loves, and Anges' mother (Lucienne Bogaert). ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Courier Sud (Southern Carrier) dramatizes the exploits of a French commercial airline, making the treacherous run from Paris to Africa and back. Much of the drama takes place on solid ground, as pilot Jacques (Pierre Richard-Willm) tries to rekindle a romance with old flame Genevieve (Jany Holt), now married to a prominent foreign ambassador (Charles Vanel). Planning a illicit tryst with Genevieve, Jacques persuades his pal Hubert (Alexandre Rignault) to substitute for him during the weekly flight to Africa. Sure enough, Hubert crash-lands in the desert, forcing a guilt-stricken Jacques to vainly attempt a rescue. To make a long story short, those left alive do not live happily ever after. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide