Pickpocket (1959)

Pickpocket: Directed by Robert Bresson. With Martin LaSalle, Marika Green, Jean Pélégri, Dolly Scal. Michel passes the time by picking pockets, careful to never be caught despite being watched by the police. His friend Jacques may suspect, while both men may have their eyes on Jeanne, the pretty neighbor of Michel’s ailing mother.

“Looks like there are a few negative reviews from misguided people who thought that this was supposed to be an adaptation of Dostoyevskiu0026#39;s u0026quot;Crime and Punishmentu0026quot;. Let me say this slowly…u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eITu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eISu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNOT.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere are many allusions to Cu0026amp;P which were quite deliberate. But donu0026#39;t expect it to go any further than that. Instead we get a very complex u0026amp; original work which, if anything, is more like Faust by Goethe. (But donu0026#39;t expect Faust either.)u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe camera-work is primo. Itu0026#39;s very fluid and keen, capturing so much in each motion, much like Alfred Hitchcocku0026#39;s masterpiece u0026quot;Ropeu0026quot; but even better in many scenes. And unlike many of the other French u0026quot;nouvelle vagueu0026quot; directors of the 50s-60s who felt obligated to be weird in order to make a statement, this film was done very lucidly. We donu0026#39;t get gratuitous weirdness like long scenes of the backs of peopleu0026#39;s heads (Godard). Instead, this is more subtle in its approach to art. Itu0026#39;s meticulous and very finely detailed, and that speaks for itself.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMy only criticism is that the ending didnu0026#39;t seem believable to me. I think it happened too quickly, whereas the rest of the film was given ample time to breathe. So I was kinda left saying, u0026quot;huh? where did that come from?u0026quot; But I dunno, maybe I missed something. Overall this is some pretty good stuff. Itu0026#39;s my first Bresson film, and it renews my faith in French movies of that period.”