Monthly Archives: April 2012

Mouchette (Bresson, 1967)

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Kamran Ahmed

Mouchette (1967) tells the heart-wrenching story of a young girl tragically forced to grow up too soon. With a dying mother, alcoholic father, and a baby brother to take care of, Mouchette (Nadine Nortier), a mere teenager, is trapped in … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Robert Bresson | Tagged Adulthood, Aesthetic, aesthetic experience, Art, Asceticism, Austerity, bresson, childhood, Cineaste, cinema, Cinematheque, Consciousness, desperation, eyedea, film, formalism, Freedom, French Film, humanist, infrared roses, Jean-Claude Guilbert, maturity, metaphor, Minimalism, Mouchette, movie, Nadine Nortier, nature, Religion, robert bresson, Robert Bresson Retrospective, Spirituality, Suicide, Tragedy, Tragic firgure, transcendentalism, wonder | 3 Comments

Diary of a Country Priest (Journal d’un curé de campagne, Bresson, 1951)

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Kamran Ahmed

A performance of austerity on the subject of austerity. A filmmaker practices austerity to create art; a priest (Claude Laydu) practices austerity to instill faith: both seek to fluorish growth amidst the people. The ascetic habits and characteristics of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Robert Bresson | Tagged Adrien Borel, aesthetic experience, aesthetics, Art, Ascetic, Asceticism, Austere, Austerity, bresson, Buddha, Christianity, Cineaste, cinema, Cinematheque, Claude Laydu, Consciousness, Contemplation, Darkness, Death, Diary of a Country Priest, Directed By Andrei Tarkovsky, film, filmmaking, formalism, Jean Riveyre, Journal d'un curé de campagne, Love, Meditation, Minimalism, movie, Nicole Ladmiral, Parish, phenomenology, Priest, Rectory, Religion, robert bresson, Robert Bresson Retrospective, Samadhi, Siddhartha, Simplicity, Spirituality, Tao, tarkovsky, transcendentalism | Leave a comment

Four Nights Of A Dreamer (Quatre nuits d’un rêveur, Bresson, 1971)

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Kamran Ahmed

What’s with this film?! The more it settles in my mind, the harder it becomes to think of anything else. To be sure, it’s not a perfect film, and has moments that are quite amateurish compared to Bresson’s other work. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Robert Bresson | Tagged a man escaped, Aesthetic Appreciation, aesthetics, Art, Ascetic, Asceticism, Beauty, bresson, cinema, Crow Jane, Dreamer, Fairytale, film, Foreign Film, Form, Four Nights Of A Dreamer, French Film, Guilliaume des Forets, Gypsies, Isabelle Welngarten, Jacques, Lonesome Hero, Marthe, Medieval, Midnight In Paris, Mike Nichols, Minimalism, movie, naturalism, Noel Carroll, Paris, Quatre Nuits d'un Reveur, Religion, robert bresson, The Graduate, The Simpsons, transcendentalism, Vagabonds, Woody Allen | 1 Comment

Une Femme Douce (A Gentle Woman, Bresson, 1969)

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Kamran Ahmed

A quality of Robert Bresson’s ascetic style is that it renders him capable of expressing a multiplicity of emotions at once; his films, though unique in their own regard, each capture an entrancing, yet endearing mood. In Une Femme Douce … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Robert Bresson | Tagged 35mm, bresson, Colour Film, Connecting, Contemplative, Death, Dominique Sanda, Drama, film, Freedom, French Film, Gentle Woman, Gracefullness, Guy Frangin, Incommunicability, Marriage, movie, Pacific cinematheque, Pensive, Religion, robert bresson, Romance, Suicide, transcendentalism, Une Femme Douce, Vancouver, Yearning | Leave a comment

The Trial Of Joan Of Arc (Procès de Jeanne d’Arc, Bresson, 1962)

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Kamran Ahmed

The Trial of Joan of Arc (1962), with its few settings, minimal action, and plenty of dialogue, reads more like a play than a film. Still, it retains Bresson’s particular formal style; in many ways, the extreme minimalism makes one … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Robert Bresson | Tagged Aesthetic, aesthetic experience, Art, Black and White Film, bresson, Bresson Retrospective, cinema, Cinematheque, Documentary, film, Florence Delay, Form, formalism, Jean-Claude Fourneaux, Jeanne d'Arc, Joan of Arc, Leonard Cohen, Minimalism, movie, Play, Religion, robert bresson, Roger Honorat, Spirituality, transcendentalism, Trial of Joan Of Arc | Leave a comment

The Devil Probably (Le Diable Probablement, Bresson, 1977)

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Kamran Ahmed

The Devil Probably (1977) is a powerful meditation on the arbitrariness of life. Originally restricted in France to those under 18, the film developed controversy due to it’s subjectification of suicide. Many believed that it may incite suicide in certain … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Robert Bresson | Tagged Abritrariness of Life, Aesthetic, Antoine Monnier, Apathy, Ascetic, bresson, cinema, Contemplation, Devil, Devil Probably, Drama, film, formalism, French Film, Hendri de MauBlanc, Meditation, Mouchette, movie, Poetry, Religion, robert bresson, Spirituality, Suicide, The Devil Probably, Tina Irissari, transcendentalism | 4 Comments

Pickpocket (Bresson, 1959)

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Kamran Ahmed

The first Bressonian film in this retrospective is Pickpocket (1959). It tells the story of an unemployed, but clever man, who is drawn to the life of the pickpocket. Though he does not seem the criminal-type, nor does he truly … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Robert Bresson | Tagged a man escaped, aesthetics, Black and White Film, bresson, cinema, Cinematheque, film, film as art, Form, formalism, French Film, Jean Pelegri, l'argent, Marika Green, Martin LaSalle, movie, Pickpocket, Poetry, robert bresson, Spirituality, transcendentalism, Vancouver Cinematheque | 1 Comment

Robert Bresson Retrospective

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Kamran Ahmed

The Pacific Cinémathèque is kicking off a Bresson retrospective. Though my work schedule gets in the way, I will try to see all 13 films — 5 of which I have previously seen. Those showings which I cannot possibly make, … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellaneous, Robert Bresson | Tagged aesthetic experience, aesthetics, Andrei tarkovsky, Black & White Film, bresson, Bresson Retrospective, cinema, Cinematheque, Cinematography, film, film as art, Form, formalism, French Film, Movies, robert bresson, Spirituality, transcendentalism, Vancouver Cinematheque | Leave a comment