Customer Reviews

Pickpocket [DVD] [1959]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Looking like a French movie but sounding like Russian literature with all the furniture cataloguing removed, Pickpocket is from the days when Bresson still drew more naturalistic performances from his non-professional casts rather than turning them into stilted and self-conscious mannequins (although Marika Green falls into the latter category, always looking at her feet as if her lines were written on her shoes in classic Bresson automaton mode), and combines the sleek look of a studio policier with a pared down moral debate from Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, with theft replacing murder.

Unlike Bresson's more obviously spiritual films (A Man Escaped, Au Hasard Balthazar, Diary of a Country Priest), there's no religious quest here: instead, there's a determinedly atheistic one, with Martin LaSalle's would-be Prince of Pickpockets pursuing an ideal of intellectual elitism as justification for crime against society's morality, failing to realise that he's just another of the thousands of petty egotist in the criminal little leagues. He simply has the ability to articulate his own notions of superiority, completely unaware that he probably works harder at his criminal skills than he would ever do at a proper job.

It's also possibly Bresson's most overtly cinematic work despite the underplaying of the dialog scenes. The fluidity of the railway station sequence, with its extraordinary display of tricks of the trade that seem more magic act than crime (the DVD also includes an extract from sleight-of-hand advisor and supporting player Kassogi's cabaret act) and the stylised nature of the sound that always keeps LaSalle at a slight remove from the world around him are much more exhilarating displays of technique than you usually associate with Bresson's more controlled and understated approach in his other films, as even he gets caught up in the LaSalle's addiction to the perfect high that only crime can give him. In that respect, it's the Bresson film you can safely recommend to people who hate Bresson fans without losing points with the faithful.

The UK DVD is a good one, boasting an excellent transfer of the film on disc one with several interviews - including a virtual interrogation of a faltering Bresson on French TV and a trio of interviews with LaSalle, Green and the articulate and intelligent Pierre Leymarie that are all to often broken up by the interviewer's self-indulgent naval-gazing - as well as TV footage of Kassogi's cabararet act. The R1 Criterion disc also has an audio commentary and an introduction by Paul Schrader which didn't make it to this version.

I don't have time to write a considered review. But the gist would be this: If you've seen Bresson before and been taken by his genius then get this without pause. If someone's recommended Bresson and you're toying with parting with some cash, then prepare yourself to embark on a wonderful journey. Only watch when wide awake and unlikely to be disturbed. The extras on this DVD are exceptionally good.

Robert Bresson's quiet, understated tales can take a little getting used to. Don't expect any loud explosions, character development, or in some of his cases, any kind of closure at all. A leap of faith is needed, and ultimately rewarded, and 'Pickpocket' remains one of the French master's finest films.

A young man named Michel (Martin Lasalle) becomes disaffected with life and embarks upon a pickpocketing crime spree. After several botched attempts, he hones his skills to perfection, performing several wallet heists so audacious, they would have the artful dodger green eyed with envy. But soon he attracts the eye of not only the law, but a local crime syndicate as well, and the prison bars are hovering too close for comfort.

Pickpocket's true masterstroke is how Michel becomes almost sociopathic in his ventures. By the end, stealing for the thrill instead of financial gain, he seemingly invites the police to come and find him. And the scenes of pickpocketing are truly breathtaking. Michel may be a criminal, but you'll be behind him all the way, desperate for him to not get caught. His canny, virtuoso techniques will have you on the edge of your seat, putting all of Hollywood's derivative action movies to shame.
And by the end, his nimble fingers can do no more good, and a woman's love may be his only salvation.

Received rather poorly in its heyday, Pickpocket stands the test of time with distinction. At only 73 minutes, this absolutely flies by, leaving you desperate for more. And Bresson, ever the master, refuses to let the proceedings get bogged down with sentimentality. Truly one of the greatest films i've ever seen, and you should see it too.

The extras are ace as well. A wonderful 5 minute interview with Bresson sees him answer difficult questions with an intelligence clearly years ahead of his time. Plus tons of retrospective interviews with the original cast and various perspectives on the film itself. Absolute gold.

For someone familiar with this film, the most fascinating aspect of this 2-disk DVD is the "extras", particularly an interview with the reclusive Bresson and a 52-minute documentary, The Models of Pickpocket, consisting of recent interviews with three of the leading actors.

First, Pickpocket itself. Made in 1959, a commercial and critical failure at the time, it is now considered to be among the two or three greatest and most seminal films of the French master. It was loosely inspired by Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment whose central character regards himself as a superior moral being who, unlike the common herd of people, is entitled to rob and murder. In Pickpocket, the young man Michel feels a compulsion, almost a divine obligation, to become an expert pickpocket, not for the material gain but simply for its own sake. He is shadowed and eventually trapped by a police inspector, and only when he is in prison does he realise that his true vocation was to be with the young woman who loved him, Jeanne. These other two characters have their counterparts in Crime and Punishment.

Like the director's 1950 film Diary of a Country Priest, Pickpocket takes the form of a diary, presumably being written in prison. We hear Michel's voice describing what happened, sometimes preceded by his writing it on squared notepaper, and then we see the scene in question. Strictly speaking, therefore, what we are seeing is not the actual events, but the events as recalled later by Michel. Perhaps this helps to justify Bresson's highly elliptical method of showing only what he considers essential, and of galloping through long sections of the story in literally seconds.

Bresson had long developed his unique method of training his (non-)actors, or "models", to eschew all expressionism and theatricality in their performances. They act largely with their eyes, nearly all the spoken dialogue being in a kind of fast monotone. They are chosen for their facial expressionlessness, Michel being played by Martin Lasalle, reminiscent of the young Henry Fonda or Montgomery Clift. Jeanne is played by Marika Green, a pretty blonde 16-year-old. I do not recall a single character smile throughout the entire film.

Bresson always opposed the notion of psychological motivation, and his characters often perform actions for no apparent reason. Michel's motive for thieving is as if he is being driven forward by some irresistible force. This is in tune with Bresson's supposed Jansenism, a kind of Catholic heresy which emphasised predestination and one's inability to influence one's fate. Pickpocket repays repeated viewing, and has hugely influenced other film-makers such as Martin Scorsese and Paul Schrader.

To turn to the DVD extras, and particularly to The Models of Pickpocket. The actors playing Michel, Jeanne, and Michel's friend Jacques were sought out and interviewed 45 years later, and they each reminisced about their experiences with Bresson, about his numerous "takes" (Martin Lasalle had to walk upstairs about 50 times for one brief shot), his particular interest in very young women (in a perfectly gentlemanly way), his original intention to entitle the film Uncertainty, and many other interesting reflections. One discovery for me was that both Martin LaSalle (now totally unrecognisable from his pickpocket role) and Marika Green subsequently became professional actors, which I had thought applied to only two of Bresson's "models" (Anne Wiazemsky of Au Hasard Balthazar and Dominique Sanda of Une Femme Douce). According to their filmographies Green has played in 30 French films while Lasalle, who trained at the famous Actors' Studio in New York (associated with such icons as Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift) and lives in Mexico City, has appeared in no fewer than 60, mostly obscure Mexican movies.

The remaining extras, besides the short Bresson interview, are a short stage interview with Marika Green along with (I think) a French critic and a director, and a cabaret performance, filmed for French TV, by Kassagi, the master pickpocket in the film who in reality was a stage magician who specialised in swallowing razor blades. Altogether, a highly commended DVD of a classic film.

The film is spare, secular, discreet, humane, and the best review I've read is of J.Hoberman of Village Voice': There's something almost medieval about it. The city is inhabited by angels--fallen and otherwise.' In my view it's true. It's a philosophical treatise in film format.

Perhaps there is the Calvinist grace in it, perhaps not. It's also about humility, reason and love.

Last, it's surely about film as art, as is the case with all great films.

Anyone who has enjoyed another Bresson film is likely to enjoy this too. It creates a similar tension to "A Man Escaped" - from totally different subject matter. The world of the pickpocket is evoked and explored with almost documentary precision, and yet the interest in the individuals remains paramount.

For those who do not know Bresson's very distinctive methods, this is an excellent place to start. The DVD is a fine print and transfer, and the extras are among the most substantial I have come across in any release: an interview with Bresson, a recent documentary featuring the main "stars," and an archival clip showing the theatre-circus performance of a conjurer whom Bresson used as one his pickpockets.

Altogether, a treasurable piece of cinema history.

This is not essentially a review of the film, which others have done fairly comprehensively.

It's about the Korean release that I bought new from an 'auction-style' site, direct from Korea. Amazon have no separate listing for this (they sometimes do) and wanted to bring attention to it as it's about half the price of this release here.

I would, believe me, pay the full price if I could but I'm human, am skint and am addicted to film, so...The Korean release features the brown and ochre-yellow cover with the crossed fingers, with the title and director on the front, in English. Go to the back and it's all Korean except for the very basic technical specs, which are in English.

The menus are in English but you have to go to 'subtitles', remove the Korean ones by selecting 'English' (not French!) and then resume. I think you can remove all subtitles completely, if your French is up to it - many complain that many releases have English titles embedded and are unremovable.

I've got, or had, a few Korean releases and they can be patchy but this one is good, without the judder during action that I have had had (OK, Pickpocket is hardly an action flick!). I guess - and presume - that the fairly low contrast is of the original, it doesn't detract or look faulty. The sound is good. The subtitles themselves seem to be spelled correctly and make sense, which always helps! and are a clear yellow, which stands out well above the greys of the film (unlike the usual white).

So, as far as I can see - and tell, it's the same movie for half the cost and instead of wealthier collectors moaning about such imports, they should think that twice the number of new French cinema viewers will be able to enjoy a genre that is often in danger of being an elitist one, which it definitely isn't and shouldn't ever be.

Quite absorbing character study focusing on one man's addiction to petty crime.The film follows him from his early forays into pickpocketing to a level of skill that consumes him completely in the pursuit of illicit gain.But then he becomes noticed...

Based on Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, Bresson's minimalist style compliments (as it has to ) the limitations of his non-professional cast. He believed that trained actors brought false emotions whereas non actors came with a heightened sense of realism and emotional honesty.This theory works far better here than in say L'Argent but it is an acquired taste.

Striking location work adds immensely to the film's appeal.

This is an odd movie. If it had been made in the UK or USA, you'd probably have given up after 15mins. The protagonist takes up picking pockets because he cant be bothered to et a job. The pickpocketing scenes are great and very tense. All well and good. But everything else in his world is spectacularly unreal. The 1st thing you notice is that nobody talks on the sound track except the movies' main characters. You're on the metro, in a bank, or at the racetrack - nobody speaks. It creates a very enclosed and claustraphobic atmosphere. You might argue that that's all to the good, except theres a nagging doubt that its just not very well directed, and that is reinforced by watching the behaviour of the 3 or 4 other main characters who are just cyphers, dummies who mouth the lines devoid of any emotion. Even when the subject of the dialogue begs for emotional reaction. Why the beautiful love interest would fall for the pickpocket after the way he treats her, is beyond me. Even in 1959 Paris, at the height of existential fashion, you'd want her to have a bit more spunk about her. The film just about gets away with it because Martin LaSalle is a pretty class act and has one of thise faces that makes him believable. Poor script medocre directiing( good editing and photography) but still quite compelling

"Pickpocket" (1959), directed by Robert Bresson, is inspired in a novel written by Dostoievsky, "Crime and punishment". This film tells us the story of Michel (Martin LaSalle), a young and very self-absorbed man that becomes a thief not out of need, but rather seduced by the possibility of being one.

Bresson follows Michel's path, and allows us to be privy to his thoughts, as he tries to decide what to do with his life, and how to avoid being captured by the police. Michel has an opportunity of redemption, but will he take it?

In my opinion, watching "Pickpocket" is worth your time, because it is a film that convincingly depicts how a young man justifies his criminal leanings, and the ever-present possibility of change, if we care enough to take it.

Belen Alcat