"Jenny, to be with you... what a peculiar path I have walked..."
It was the first time I watched "Pickpocket" and it was the first time I watched Robert Bresson. The minimalist dialogue, calm expression, and slow rhythm in the film made me immersed in it, so fascinated. Imagine a quiet night, no noisy voices, no noisy cars, only gentle wind and a movie and a person. What a wonderful thing this is.
Both the male and female protagonists are non-professional actors, which can be said to be deliberately arranged by Bresson. Bresson is a very magical person. He can portray theft as an art. Every technique is extremely skillful without losing elegance and demeanor. The most outstanding segment in the film is Michelle and two accomplices theft in the station. This segment is called fingertip ballet by later generations. First sound, rear view, second feeling, from thin footsteps to fluent theft, perfect scene adjustment, this is Bresson's minimalist style, minimalism.
As a criminal film, this film does not have any fancy and so-called narrative climax. It is only written in a diary like a running account, and a large number of narrations show the psychological activities and spiritual salvation of the protagonist Michele... Our protagonist Michelle is a void and lonely The person, he did not have a job, hesitated. This reminds me of Nolan's "Follow." The protagonist Bill and Michelle are very similar, and there is always a flickering and frightening feeling in his eyes. Both films contain the motif of a lonely young man committing a crime with non-utilitarian motives. But Michelle’s crime was based on his own moral standards, with his own philosophical motives, and Bill. It's a psychopath that is caused by loneliness.
"Courage is to make up your mind, but am I bold enough?" Michelle always lives in his own wandering world, in his own philosophy of existence. When Jenny asked him about his faith, he replied disdainfully, believing in God for three minutes. Theft is an art he thinks, it is fingertip ballet, it has a sense of beauty, and is even beneficial to the society, it is nihilistic and free, and his behavior is not restricted by morals and laws. When he promised Jenny, he was not stealing, but making clean money, but he was still nothing, his soul was not placed, and he had no sustenance. So it triggered his last theft, and when faced with a large amount of cash, he fell into the trap of the police. When he started to support his family, he fell into prison, time and space were no longer free, and love became the only hope. He once again regarded love as an art and devoted himself to it (love was also stolen).
So Michelle went around in a big circle. He didn't say anything or say nothing. He did what he said. Although he followed that faith with enthusiasm and emptiness, to experience the laws brought by the sky, he finally returned to the ground. Finally, the police brought Jenny’s letter, the cell door opened, and a beam of light dissipated the darkness of the cell. Jenny’s beauty exuded the radiance of the Virgin, and the iron windows did not stop them. They, he was willing to accept the distance of love (when the male protagonist refused After the rescue of mother, friend, and police).
Fuck you, we always have to take this peculiar path, as confused and nihilistic as Michelle, from a confused era.
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