DEEP DIVE: Robert Bresson's Spiritual Minimalism

This is a watch at home, discuss in person event.

I've been wanting to do a deep-dive discussion on a single director for a while, and though I was initially leaning towards starting with one of my genre-fare heroes, I haven't hosted many events on international arthouse cinema. I figured I'd start with a director whose work I've seen a bit of but who I'd like to explore more: Robert Bresson. I love the philosophy behind his minimal style of viewing the actors as models and restraining more conventional filmmaking elements like dramatic music or showy camera movements. Through these omissions, he leaves room for more authentic emotional reactions to grow within the viewer, even if what he's showing isn't a slice-of-life, everyday experience.

Please try to watch all three films before the discussion, but it's okay if you've only seen 1 or 2. These movies were also difficult to find free streaming options for. They're still fairly easy to find through other methods but let me know if you need help there!

Films:

A Man Escaped (1956):
A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from prison.
Stream on Criterion Channel or RENT on Apple, YouTube, Amazon

Pickpocket (1959):
Michel takes up pickpocketing on a lark and is arrested soon after. His mother dies shortly after his release, and despite the objections of his only friend, Jacques, and his mother’s neighbor Jeanne, Michel teams up with a couple of petty thieves in order to improve his craft. With a police inspector keeping an eye on him, Michel also tries to get a straight job, but the temptation to steal is hard to resist.
Stream on Criterion Channel or RENT on Apple, YouTube, Amazon

L'Argent (1983):
A forged 500-franc note is passed from person to person and shop to shop, until it falls into the hands of a genuine innocent who doesn’t see it for what it is—which will have devastating consequences on his life.
Stream on Criterion Channel or RENT on Apple, YouTube, Amazon