Notes on the Cinématographe - Theories of Robert Bresson - Part I

The Cinématographe is the name that Robert Bresson gave to his work, by opposition to the Cinema, a photographed theater. It was his way in explaining the dependence of film to theater, first with the use of actors, then by their replacement with models from A Man Escaped until his final film L'Argent in 1983.

Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut

Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut aka A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson, 1956)

Robert Bresson is the kind of director that not everyone gets and likes. Almost everyone of his films involves religion and faith in some manner. With Un condamné à mort s'est échappé, Bresson applied his "cinematographer" theory to film making. It involves a non-professional cast, few music except at the end, and a very minimalist mise en scène. One could say that it was a Dogme 95 of the 1950's. Adapted from the memoirs of André Devigny and scripted by Robert Bresson himself, Un condamné à mort s'est échappé is one of the most interesting if not the best jail movie.

Fontaine (François Leterrier) is a French resistant emprisoned during the Nazi occupation in France and he is condemned for a death sentence. Even before entering in the prison his thoughts are centered around a way to escape. During a long but untold lapse of time he concocts and study his plan to get out of jail. We follow the evolution of his plan and every thought and hesitation with a voice over by Fontaine himself. The minimalist locations of shooting, the cell, the prisoner yard, and the staircases are among the few places Bresson films. Everything is done with the fewer means possible. As the viewer is totally concerned with the dramatic escalation of the story and the climax. This is the most gripping film Bresson has ever made and the theory of the "cinematographer" is superbly executed and applies perfectly with the subject of the jail escape.
This is also a film about hope and expecting what you can do when you are determined to achieve and success. The whole idea of faith and belief is also mentioned in a conversation with the Priest of Leiris (Roland Monod) while in an argument that one must pray to the lord but also act to get he asks. An interesting fact about Fontaine and Bresson is the fact that the director himself has been in the French Resistance and that like Louis Malle who was a collaborator to the Nazis, made a film about a personal experience. His heroes, or as he liked to call them models, are often expressionless and antipathetic characters. It is one of the elements that makes it difficult to rely to when one wants to discover Bresson's work. However, Un condamné à mort s'est échappé was brought to me by Mediafilm's Masterpiece list and I must completely agree with this institution: this is a masterpiece and Robert Bresson's greatest film.

Doomed he was when he arrived. Fontaine however came with his hopes and determination. Even if the Nazis beat him with iron bars his will to escape was stronger than any kind of repression.

Journal d'un curé de campagne

Journal d'un curé de campagne aka Diary of A Country Priest (Robert Bresson, 1951)

A difficult film at first because of the thin thin story told and the lean and unappealing visual treatment of it all. However very influential to many spirituality tormented directors like Andrei Tarkovosky and Martin Scorsese. The lack of actual plot and the long silent reclusion of the almost anti-hero, the priest, his pain and arid living gives you this inspirationnal feeling that faith as to be a necessary suffering. Considered by critics and cinephiles as one of the quintessential films of the Art I personally don't feel like this is one of the greatest film of all time.
Even if I'm not very fond of Bresson's work I think that it is far from being his better contribution to the media. The spiritual depth talked about Journal is painful not only to the main character but also to the viewer who must endure and understand the emptiness of the life of this priest. The messianique figure that Bresson tries to paint here isn't quite up the act as he does with his way better Au hazard Balthazar displaying a donkey as the witness of the avidity and evil of humanity.
Compared to his spirituality tormented peers, Bresson lacks of technique and storytelling. Take Dreyer's Ordet for example, a blissfull masterpiece slow paced while being filled with tremendous technique and mastery. On the other hand, still within scandinavian cinema, Bergman displayed with his trilogy on the silence of God an outstanding comprehension of faith and spirituality. However, it might be Bresson's twisted and ambiguous approach to the whole that can not really be well discerned thorough the spiritual Cinema.

L'argent

L'argent aka Money (Robert Bresson, 1983)

The final film of filmmaker Robert Bresson was shot when he was 82 years old and couldn't be fresher or more bressonian. While keeping his monotone dialogues, slow paced action of almost boring subjects the themes exploited by his story always bring deep meaning about society. This 1983 release couldn't be more actual, the 1980's were a period of great economic depression and the thought of making fast money by conterfeit or robbery might be something that occured in the mind of many twisted people. A lot like in the 1930's where the gangs like Dillinger's, Bonnie and Clyde, and all those famous robbers.

The case here, is on how fake money can alter and change the life of people and how ironic this trading of money touches everything we do in life. Well, if you are like me; I don't even have money with me anymore, I only carry my credit card or my debit card. Still, this is money and a materialist property. Based on Tolstoy's novel A Fake Coupon, L'argent demonstrates how malevolent and immoral money really is in our society. The themes of greed, corruption, class struggles, and criminality are all provoked by money and the materialist world we all lie in. The christian values of forgiveness, sharing, and charity are all flouted by the greed of the young criminal. I mention christian values because Bresson always exploited themes around the spirituality and the values it represents as another level of reading in his films. This is the focal point of the film and it leads to its final and tragic ending.

However, Bresson's films are so cold and unappealing that it is difficult to fully appreciate and love them, they are must sees and as a filmmaker he influenced a lot of directors of today; just take a look at the brothers Dardennes' films for example. Getting warmer for the Seven Days of the French New Wave in the first days of December...

#22 Robert Bresson

Cinephiles who voted for Robert Bresson:
Michaël Parent


Lists:
The Cinematheque
FilmJournal
They Shoot Pictures Don't They?