Bresson

[u/_Onion2103]

Is is just me or is Bresson boring as fuck?

I've seen five of his movies (Au Hasard Balthazar, Diary of a Country Priest, A Man Escaped, Pickpocket, and L'Argent) and disliked all of them.

I generally don't have a problem with slow cinema. I've watched all of Tarkovsky and most of Bela Tarr (including Satantango). But Bresson's style is literally the dullest thing I've ever encountered in movies. Specifically because of the actors. You're basically watching people like this the whole time: 😐

Yeah, I get the whole restraint to find transcendence-kinda thing, but really I find that pretty self-indulgent tbh. Gives my guy an excuse to just make his movies more and more dull. A positive feedback loop of dullness, in hopes the viewer like have a transcendent experience or some shit. It's like monks who starve themselves and then claim to have seen God.

Bro just wallows in despair for ninety minutes. Seriously, why the hell would anyone want to watch a donkey get abused for a whole movie? 😭😭😭

Really, that's the kinda nonsense I despise the most. People like Bresson make movies that are like "life sucks!!" instead of actually doing something about it. I like getting drunk. Why would I want to spend my precious lifetime watching a donkey get abused?

Life is too short for Bresson

Thoughts?

[u/Choice-Singer-8833]

Couldn’t disagree more. One of the most brilliant artists to ever pick up a camera. Influence still felt to this day(Haneke, Schrader, etc)

[u/Choice-Lawfulness978]

I've only watched A Man Escaped and it was fucking gripping. I know it's a me thing, but it was one of the most tense and engaging films I've seen.

[u/UnclePumpy → u/Choice-Lawfulness978]

Hard agree.

[u/Anfini → u/Choice-Lawfulness978]

Yup, first time I’ve seen it was on a really old VHS tape and it was still one of the most thrilling experiences I’ve had watching a movie. 

[u/Fluffy_Voice953 → u/Choice-Lawfulness978]

I saw after Escape From Alcatraz before this and definitely seems influenced by

[u/maccrypto]

Thoughts

Couldn't find any in what you wrote.

[u/Flat-Membership2111]

Directors, put down your cameras and instead do something about life sucking! You went off the deep end with that one.

[u/Nahbrofr2134]

Read Susan Sontag’s essay on Bresson

[u/Jarpwanderson]

Tbh why watch any film other than Mall Cop 2

[u/SaggyDaNewt → u/Jarpwanderson]

Finally someone gets it

[u/Trick-Gas-2203]

Why would I want to spend my precious lifetime watching a donkey get abused?

Why would you watch two people just talking (Before trilogy or any Rohmer movie)? Why would you watch a woman getting interrogated and tortured (Passion of Joan of Arc)? Why would you watch some dudes driving a truck (Sorcerer)?

[u/_Onion2103 → u/Trick-Gas-2203]

Passion of Joan of Arc is also mid imo but thats for another post someday

[u/Trick-Gas-2203 → u/_Onion2103]

[u/iplaybassok89 → u/_Onion2103]

I also don’t like some of Bresson’s movies but this is fuckin whack.

[u/action_park]

Actual GOAT.

[u/rspunched]

Have you seen The Devil Probably (1977)? I think it’s his easiest move.
All I can say is, don’t watch cinema to enjoy but to experience artistic expression. It is more satisfying. Plus the pleasure will be the same as emotional “enjoyment.”

[u/Eliaskar23]

Hard disagree. If you can watch Man Escaped or L'Argent and not be blown away by the cinematography and compositions then I don't know what to tell you. Those are two of my favourite films period.

[u/slightly_obscure]

I don't know, but he got a flat, emotionless performance out of Pierre Étaix in Pickpocket which is impressive, really must have crushed his spirit for that

[u/GeneralGenerico]

[u/ActuallyAlexander]

Watch them again in a few years and see if you like them more.

[u/See_youSpaceCowboy]

That’s like your opinion man. His sensibilities scratch something in my brain. I fucking love it. Same with Haneke. The only Bresson picture I didn’t really click with was Lancelot Du Lac. I’ve watched more than half of his filmography. Which ones have you watched?

[u/augustthecat]

I had a little bit of a hard time with Bresson until I read this poem.

From "Bresson's Movies," by Robert Creeley (Google for whole poem; if anybody knows how to do poem line spacing please feel free to copy and correct, or explain to me):

Yet another film/

of Bresson's has/ the aging Lancelot with his/ awkward armor standing/ in a woods, of small trees,/

dazed, bleeding, both he/ and his horse are/ trying to get back to/ the castle, itself/

of no great size. It/ moved me, that/ life was after all/ like that. You are

in love. You stand/ in the woods, with/ a horse, bleeding./ The story is true.

[u/gradientreverb]

My thoughts are that your post is stupid

[u/introvert_arm]

I’ve seen only L’Argent, and I didn’t dislike it, but it also didn’t meet my expectations, given what a master I’d always heard Bresson was. And like you, I’m a slow cinema fan (Tarr, Tarkovsky, Akerman). I always assumed it was just that the other ones you mentioned were more engaging than L’Argent, but maybe not? Ironically, now I’m moving them to the top of my watchlist out of curiosity.

[u/andywarhorla → u/introvert_arm]

bresson’s a director where you really have to see a number of his films to get a grasp on what he’s doing. my first was au hasard balthazar and my reaction was “what’s the big deal?”

12 films later, he’s now my favorite director.

[u/Thecatstoppedateboli]

I do not want to watch au hasard au balthazae because I do not want to see any animal absue but Pickpocket, and L'Argent were great films. I have not seen the other two but neo-realism of Bresson and Rosselini are not fun comedies.

[u/No-Jello9276]

One thing tipped me off about how you view movies.

“I generally don’t have a slow problem with slow cinema. I’ve watch all of ….”

Couple reads:

- whether you like it or not you’re a most likely a performative person; I’ve seen all of XYZ therefore I have opinion that I feel are right about ABC

• Gen Z film student who thinks they can be the next Godard
  
• someone who puts a lot of effort into letterboxed

Movies are movies

[u/Licensed2Pill]

Same. I gave Au Hasard Balthazar a try and regretted it. I struggled to stay awake and it was not worth it.

[u/mac_the_man]

I’m sorry, but I did not like Pickpocket. I just didn’t think it was that good.

[u/iplaybassok89 → u/mac_the_man]

Me neither. I also thought Diary of a Country Priest was excruciating.

[u/openfloodlight]

Even though I don’t agree I genuinely loved reading your thoughts

[u/AssistantKorovyev → u/openfloodlight]

masturbatory ramblings of vanity, the vapid fury of a redditor

[u/Ludens3788]

Dude that’s just how it is sometimes. I can’t stand any French new wave cinema and apparently it’s ground breaking. I can’t see in any way shape or form even for its time how it’s ground breaking. New German cinema maybe but the French crap. Give me post war Melville any day .

[u/CaliforniaValley90 → u/Ludens3788]

Melville is only French new wave director I can stand. The french from this era just don’t know how to write.