• Pickpocket

2/4/24 (Sun)

I picked this 1959 film as a Bresson primer because it’s reportedly fairly straightforward for him and is just 90 minutes. The English word “pickpocket” turns out for some reason to be the original French title.

Michel, an ordinary man with no steady job, has taken to pickpocketing as a way of filling his days. He gradually comes to enjoy the thrill of the game and turns down opportunities for legitimate work, ultimately joining with a team of thieves who work in tandem under the guidance of an expert crook. He holds the firm belief that a certain class of superior man should not be bound by the same laws as the common flock (I know the type). He sends money to his sick mother but refuses to see her despite his insistence that he loves her “more than myself” (though that may actually be true given how he despises himself).

It transpires that he has stolen money from his mother, and he comes to realize that she is in fact aware of that. When his accomplices are arrested, he leaves for a few years in London, where he throws his money away on women and gambling. He returns to Paris to learn that his mother’s neighbor, who had long been taking care of her, has had a child with his friend. This spurs him to get a job to help out, but his old habits kick in when he spots an opportunity to steal – only to find that he has been lured into a trap. He is arrested, and the neighbor often visits him in prison. He gets upset when she stops showing up for a while, but is moved to receive a letter from her explaining that her child has been sick. When she shows up again, he realizes he at last has the capacity to love.

Michel seems to be detached from life, which holds little interest or meaning for him. He turns to crime mainly because it gives him some sense of accomplishment. The film suggests that he harbors guilt for stealing from his mother, though he himself may be unaware of his feelings. On the surface at least, he seems to have no feelings at all. It is only at the end when he is separated from the neighbor who has been so kind to him that he starts to develop an emotion, and the relief at her return makes him realize that he cares for something other than his own narrow life. That is, he experiences the redemptive power of love.

The movie is not uninteresting, especially in the ingenious pickpocketing scenes, one of which involves amazing coordination by several men (one of the accomplices was apparently a real-life thief who taught his techniques to the director). But the director purposely drains all life out of the characters by making the actors play the scenes without any visible emotion. Kaurismäki uses that style for droll comedic purposes, but here it felt enervated. Existentialist ennui is better suited for books like The Stranger (which this film reminded me of). The essays and reviews about the film are actually more interesting than the film itself.

It’s difficult to judge the acting given Bresson’s insistence that the performers show no emotion. Martin LaSalle, a French actor with Uruguayan roots, bears a resemblance to Montgomery Clift without the intensity or talent. He was not previously an actor, which was apparently the very reason that Bresson chose him, though he had a long subsequent career. He did look the part, which at least helped. Marika Green did well as the woman who opened Michel’s heart.

The film is reportedly highly influential, especially the last scene, but it’s more for critics than general audiences. It came around the same time as the start of the French New Wave but definitely sets its own path.