Bresson. I have two big masterpieces for Bresson (A Man Escaped, Pickpocket) that show well in my top 500 but that’s it for Bresson there. I’ve yet to have a 3rd (or 4th or 5th) film from him emerge. Until then, it’s unlikely I’ll have Bresson move up my list. Two interesting quotes here I found on Bresson from great sources. “Bresson is perhaps the only man in the cinema to have achieved the perfect fusion of the finished work with a concept theoretically formulated beforehand”- Tarkovsky. “He is a great director, even if no other great director seems less intrigued by cinema itself.”- David Thompson.
Best film: A Man Escaped. The best of Bresson- wonderful ascetic style. It’s largely about a man in a room. We have Bresson’s heavy voice-over inner monologue, reoccurring shots of hands and feet and stark background.
total archiveable films: 10
top 100 films: 1 (A Man Escaped)
top 500 films: 2 (A Man Escaped, Pickpocket)
top 100 films of the decade: 5 (A Man Escaped, Pickpocket, Au Hasard Balthazar, Mouchette. Diary of a Country Priest)
most overrated: Au hasard Balthazar– I tried it in 2010 and again 2014. I’m due again. I appreciate the meticulous editing and Bresson’s deeper parable and work with his actor/model here (a donkey in this case). Certainly I’m not done with this film but I can’t get behind TSPDT having as #32 all-time.
most underrated: A Gentle Woman. I have it as Bresson’s 5th best and yet it’s not one of the 9 films on the TSPDT consensus top 1000.
gem I want to spotlight: Pickpocket. I’d start either here or with A Man Escaped if you are looking for one Bresson film or to start a study. The Paul Schrader intro on it for Criterion is excellent (and the film clearly had a profound impact on him and all of his work- particularly Light Sleeper and First Reformed). The existential spiritual prison, obviously more reoccurring shots of hands (sometimes stealing things here), inner monologue voice-over, diary writing, shots of man in prison or caged.
stylistic innovations/traits: Bresson’s films are made with tremendous care; very deliberate and detailed. I love the beautiful elliptical editing in most of his work. I love the voice-over in some films (A Man Escaped) and feel totally bogged down by it in others (Diary of a Country Priest). Certainly he is a Christian artist and much has been written about his achievement of transcendence through style. I certainly can appreciate his work in this area. One think I also appreciate is how he consistently drained his “models” (he called his actors “models” instead) completely of emotion. There’s nothing like it in cinema history from what I’ve seen (ok—Dreyer’s work is there, too) but it formally matches the stark mise-en-scene, elliptical editing, and formal structure.
top 10
- A Man Escaped
- Pickpocket
- Au Hasard Balthazar
- Mouchette
- A Gentle Woman
- Diary of a Country Priest
- L’argent
- Lancelot of the Lake
- Les Dames du bois de Boulogne
- The Trial of Joan of Arc
By year and grades
| 1945- Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne- | R |
| 1951- Diary of a Country Priest | HR |
| 1956- A Man Escaped | MP |
| 1959- Pickpocket | MP |
| 1962- The Trial of Joan of Arc | R |
| 1966- Au Hasard, Balthazar | HR |
| 1967- Mouchette | HR |
| 1969- A Gentle Woman | HR |
| 1974- Lancelot of the Lake | |
| 1983- L’Argent |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-see- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives
Can you please do reviews for star wars 4 and 5.
@ Tupac– love the Star Wars request on the Bresson page– haha. Yes- i’m overdue to watch the Star Wars films- it’s been over 5 years which is far too long. I’ll put them in the queue to get to
I was gonna ask about if you had forgotten about Bresson or something lol. I get you’re placement though, I however am completely on board with TSPDT and would probably place him somewhere at the low end of my top 20.
@Leo– totally fair. I owe Bresson a film by film study– i’ve kind of plotted out which films i’m going to try to get to in 2019 but hopefully in 2020 I can do that. If i’m wrong about “Au hasard Balthazar” — that alone would change his ranking drastically.
>robert bresson ranked lower than quentin tarantino
time to leave your website!
@Yikes— haha yep. It’s much easier to leave than to put together an argument.
Ill come up with an argument than. No. Bresson is not better than tarantino. Bressons simple style is very great influential but tarantino is past film art. He turned “movies” into art and his scripts, I mean I’m not convinced he isn’t the greatest screenwriter in history. Inglorious talking about movies to the fate talks in pulp fiction – amazing
@ M and Yikes– Thanks for the defense M– I shouldn’t have been so snarky with @Yikes. Sorry @Yikes.
Bresson is a brilliant filmmaker. I’ll just stay that I’ve studied both extensively and am confident in my ranking.
I will also say though that i didn’t rank them to create arguments like this (though it can be fun)– it was more intended to praise the work of the best directors (again not argue X is greater than Y). If they are both on the list– they are both great.
Does anyone know where I can find Diary of a Country Priest (1951).
Been wanting to revisit it after watch Paul Schrader’s excellent First Reformed (2017) but having trouble finding it.
Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne HR
Diary of a Country Priest MP
A Man Escaped MS
Pickpocket MP
The Trial of Joan of Arc R
Au hasard Balthazar MP
Mouchette MS
A Gentle Woman R
Four Nights of a Dreamer HR
Lancelot of the Lake HR
The Devil, Probably HR
L’Argent MP
@Hyland – just curious, where did you watch Country Priest? I’ve been trying to revisit that one but have had trouble locating it
Well I have bad news for you if you are only into legal ways of acquiring movies – I downloaded it from RARBG. I live in a country with no real piracy laws..
Just had a second viewing of Au Hasard Balthazar and still have it as a HR. I’m not sure if I’m missing something given it’s lofty status as a major masterpiece.
#25 on 2022 Sight and Sound Critics
#37 on 2022 Sight and Sound Directors
#29 on 2023 TSPDT
@Drake do you also still have it as a HR?
@LeBron Smith – I do, have not seen in more recently than the publishing of this 1966 page in 2021 https://thecinemaarchives.com/2021/03/14/1966/ .
My ranking of Bresson`s films that I`ve seen:
1. A Man Escaped MP
2. Pickpocket MP (though I am considering MS)
3. L`Argent MS
4. Au Hasard Balthazar HR/MS
5. Diary of a Country Priest HR
6. Mouchette HR
@RujK- Timely share- thanks for sending- I just ran through 3 of these this week
@Drake- which ones were they, and have you changed any of your opinions on them? L’Argent?
@RujK- Au Hasard Balthazar, Mouchette and L’Argent in the past week- still processing a little- but no doubt L’Argent is the strongest