"Bresson is to French cinema, what Mozart is to Austrian music, and Dostoyevsky is to Russian literature."
-Godard:
Both master directors are facing Robert Bresson Song made such a high praise, which aroused my interest in his film.
"Money" uses a counterfeit currency as a clue, and uses the different performances and experiences of people facing the counterfeit currency to illustrate the greed and selfishness of human nature. The owner of the photographic equipment shop was originally a victim of counterfeit money, but he passed the disaster on to Ivan, who worked for him. Ivan's life changed drastically, and bad luck followed him again and again. First, he lost his job, and then was forced to participate in the robbery without knowing it, and was eventually convicted and imprisoned. This is not the end. The lovely child fell ill and died, and his beloved wife abandoned him. "It's the most terrible thing for people who haven't killed anyone to get crazy!" After he was released, he killed the innkeeper first, and then raised the butcher knife to the old woman who took him in. What about the perpetrators who actually use counterfeit money? Because Nobel has a wealthy mother who can use money to buy a photographic equipment shop, the owner has kept silent about his use of counterfeit money! The owner of a photographic equipment shop can buy a clerk to give him false evidence! The clerk was even more self-interested, doing perjury in court casually! The innocent Ivan is suffering all the pain alone! "Just" laws can't protect those kind-hearted people in the slightest, and those who really commit crimes can continue their lives with impunity and peace of mind.
Bresson used his simple and austere lens to present Ivan's injustices one by one. Let the audience have to think about who caused his misfortune? The murder scenes in the film are only slightly taken. Compared with the avant-garde movies that exaggerate violent horror, there may be fewer "cool" murder scenes. Without these plasma violence, it still feels colder to the bone! Even with the departure of Ivan Aiko's deceased wife, Bresson only used a letter to convey Ivan's suffering! The only regret is that the performance of the actors is too mechanical, probably because of non-professional actors, their performance is a bit unsatisfactory
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