The Devil, Probably [DVD]

In The Devil Probably (1977) we follow Charles, young and alienated and probably searching for a meaning of life, or maybe he has given up on that. Like other Bresson movies like L'Argent, the actions and intentions of the protagonist is not always totally clear, at least not to me. Bresson does not give us an easy or mainstream story played by mainstream actors. Instead he gives us his vision of the world and society. Here he also uses what he calls "models" insetad of "actors", that is the actors are just to deliver the lines and not really act by displaying emotions and so on.

As I see it, Charles problem is not just as he says: that he sees things too clearly. That is, he sees all the bad stuff in the world and therefore can't find any meaning in anything: environmental pollution, the list of things you "have to do" like raising a family, education, work and so on makes him sick and bored near death. Charles is a slacker in the 1970s, and he refuses to contribute to the society he finds so rotten (but he clearly has no problem using others money). But clearly Charles also has got problems relating to other people. He finds himself "superior" and more intelligent than others (and feelings of "superiority" is a theme in Bressons earlier Pick Pocket). And therefore he don't really care for others, despite his idealism with books about "saving the planet". The other characters are more caring about each other - and for Charles. (Maybe Charles is even a sort of fascist?) I won't go into the ending here as it may spoil the experience. This dark movie demands some reflection afterwards.

The DVD from AE has very clear and stable picture. There are no extras, but at a price of 8GBP it is very good value for money.

Robert Bresson is probably upset with the world of the late 70s. During the introduction of the group of activistic Parisian youth, which becomes Bresson's ensemble of the film, problems of the present are scattered at us with direct hits. Environmental issues such as Oil-dumping, seal-extermination, pollution, overpopulation, industrial interest in rain forest as well as the need for modernity in Christianity surrounds our band of outsiders. What frightens me is that these problems and statistics have increased muliple times since then, and left us now, with even more troubled minds. When a teenage girl inserts nude photos inside Church programs and Bible booklets in the Cathedral to provoke disgust, a teenager named Charles with mid-long dark hair, steps up to his group and tells them that this is not respectable. After the opening credits, a newspaper displays Charles' face on the cover, with the headline: "Parisian teenage committed suicide." Only to be replaced by a new coverage: "Parisian teenage murdered". I find Charles, the most interesting figure in the film, and his search for answers for his existence in a decadent world, gets more and more intense. The love of his girlfriend is not enough, stealing money is too accessible and the psychiatrist is avoiding to go deeper into his troubles, because he is above all interested in money. What are the reasons why Charles is giving up on the world? The world through his eyes seems to be both senseless and unbearable. I like how material concern, the focus on success and fame are depicted as enslavement of people, manipulating our way of living and alienating our inner selves. Bresson is very clever at following the same stream of consciousness all the way to the inevitable death of the teenager. The film feels confident as Robert Bresson's next film 'L'Argent' which follows the usage of fake money from unaware teenagers, to the hands of an axe murderer. Both film are searching for something of a soul in society. I think Bresson is less preoccupied with external threats to our existence, which is mere backdrop, than the need for spirituality in the world, which many find in religion. This seemingly hopeless search is what drives the film forward, even if we learn that all misery today can probably be blamed on the devil.

This is Bressonian compression and foreknowledge. We find out about the student who has committed suicide-or was it murder? from newspaper headlines then the film flashes back 3 months to unfold the story in full. So no suspense and the characters and city of Paris have been devitalized.We do get one student showing his friends film of environmental pollution and damage: the clubbing of seals,the despoiliation of the forests,the pollution of the land and oceans.We next see the uselessness of protest,the empty sloganeering and rhetoric of futile revolt. The death of God and the lack of relevance of church hierarchies with the splitting and dilution of religion.A psychiatrist can provide no answers but charges 200 francs.He thinks he sees too clearly.A Jansenist fatalism hangs over the young man and his group of friends.He reaches out to his friends who try to help him or look out for him, he has amoral sex without commitment to the two women in his group. Bresson decries acting and his `models' perform their actions perfunctorily without emotion.This is truly the chronicle of a death foretold in a world without spiritual values.The young anti-hero could be a Christ figure in a Pasolini film.There is a hypnotic,magnetic austerity to this penultimate film of Bresson's which is strangely prescient for our own times.