Pickpocket (film)
Encyclopedia
Pickpocket is a 1959 film
by the French
director
Robert Bresson
. It starred Martin LaSalle, who was a nonprofessional actor at the time, in the title role, with Marika Green
as the ingénue
. It was the first film Bresson wrote the screenplay for rather than "adapting it from an existing text."
As in Diary of a Country Priest
, some screen time is devoted to the protagonist's writings, and, as in A Man Escaped
, the protagonist's voice is heard more in the voiceover than in dialogue.
Visiting his mother, Michel meets Jeanne (Marika Green
) who begs him to visit his mother more often. Jacques goes on a date with Jeanne and invites Michel along. But after stealing a watch, Michel leaves Jacques and Jeanne at the carnival. While in a bar the inspector asks Michel to show him a book by George Barrington
about pickpocketing at the station on a convenient morning, and Michel goes down to the police station with it. Once there, the inspector barely glances at the book. Michel goes back to his apartment realizing that it was all just a ruse to search his apartment. However, the cops failed to find his stash of money.
Michel's mother dies, and he goes to the funeral with Jeanne. Later, the inspector visits Michel in his apartment, and tells him that his mother had had some money stolen, but later dropped the charges, probably figuring it was her son who stole the money. The inspector then just leaves, and Michel decides to leave the country.
Returning to France, Michel goes back to steal at the horse track, where he is caught redhanded by the police. Jeanne goes to visit him in jail.
, which the credits attribute to Jean-Baptiste Lully
. However, both fragments are taken from orchestral suite no. 7 by Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer
.
[plot] or is seemingly equal in importance to it".
Roger Ebert
sees echoes of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment
in this film. "Bresson's Michel, like Dostoyevsky's hero Raskolnikov, needs money in order to realize his dreams, and sees no reason why some lackluster ordinary person should not be forced to supply it. The reasoning is immoral, but the characters claim special privileges above and beyond common morality. Michel, like the hero of Crime and Punishment, has a 'good woman' in his life, who trusts he will be able to redeem himself. ... She comes to Michel with the news that his mother is dying. Michel does not want to see his mother, but gives Jeanne money for her. Why does he avoid her? Bresson never supplies motives. We can only guess."
, who has described it as "an unmitigated masterpiece" and "as close to perfect as there can be", and whose films American Gigolo
, Patty Hearst
, and Light Sleeper
all include endings similar to that of Pickpocket.
In addition, his screenplay for Martin Scorsese
's Taxi Driver
bears many similarities, including confessional narration and a voyeuristic look at society. Schrader's admiration for Pickpocket led to his contribution in an extra in The Criterion Collection
's DVD release in 2005.
Pickpocket has been paraphrased by other films, such as Leos Carax
's Les Amants du Pont-Neuf
.
1959 in film
The year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.-Events:* The Three Stooges make their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters....
by the French
Cinema of France
The Cinema of France comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions. Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle...
director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Robert Bresson
Robert Bresson
-Life and career:Bresson was born at Bromont-Lamothe, Puy-de-Dôme, the son of Marie-Élisabeth and Léon Bresson. Little is known of his early life and the year of his birth, 1901 or 1907, varies depending on the source. He was educated at Lycée Lakanal in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, close to Paris, and...
. It starred Martin LaSalle, who was a nonprofessional actor at the time, in the title role, with Marika Green
Marika Green
Marika Nicolette Green is a Swedish-French actress. She is mostly famous for playing the starring role in Robert Bresson's Pickpocket , and also for appearing in Emmanuelle ....
as the ingénue
Ingenue (stock character)
See also Disingenuous, which is not quite the antonym that it may seem!The ingénue is a stock character in literature, film, and a role type in the theatre; generally a girl or a young woman who is endearingly innocent and wholesome. Ingenue may also refer to a new young actress or one typecast in...
. It was the first film Bresson wrote the screenplay for rather than "adapting it from an existing text."
As in Diary of a Country Priest
Diary of a Country Priest
Diary of a Country Priest is a 1951 French film directed by Robert Bresson, and starring Claude Laydu. It was closely based on the novel of the same name by Georges Bernanos. Published in 1937, the novel received the Grand prix du roman de l'Académie française...
, some screen time is devoted to the protagonist's writings, and, as in A Man Escaped
A Man Escaped
A Man Escaped or: The Wind Bloweth Where It Listeth is a 1956 French film directed by Robert Bresson. It is based on the memoirs of André Devigny, a prisoner of war held at Fort Montluc during World War II. The protagonist of the film is called Fontaine...
, the protagonist's voice is heard more in the voiceover than in dialogue.
Plot
Michel (Martin LaSalle) goes to a horse race and steals some money from a spectator. He leaves the racetrack confident he was not caught when he's suddenly arrested. The inspector (Jean Pélégri) releases Michel because the evidence is not strong enough; Michel says it's not a crime to have cash.Visiting his mother, Michel meets Jeanne (Marika Green
Marika Green
Marika Nicolette Green is a Swedish-French actress. She is mostly famous for playing the starring role in Robert Bresson's Pickpocket , and also for appearing in Emmanuelle ....
) who begs him to visit his mother more often. Jacques goes on a date with Jeanne and invites Michel along. But after stealing a watch, Michel leaves Jacques and Jeanne at the carnival. While in a bar the inspector asks Michel to show him a book by George Barrington
George Barrington
George Barrington , an Irish-born pickpocket, popular London socialite, Australian pioneer , and author. His escapades, arrests, and trials, were widely chronicled in the London press of his day...
about pickpocketing at the station on a convenient morning, and Michel goes down to the police station with it. Once there, the inspector barely glances at the book. Michel goes back to his apartment realizing that it was all just a ruse to search his apartment. However, the cops failed to find his stash of money.
Michel's mother dies, and he goes to the funeral with Jeanne. Later, the inspector visits Michel in his apartment, and tells him that his mother had had some money stolen, but later dropped the charges, probably figuring it was her son who stole the money. The inspector then just leaves, and Michel decides to leave the country.
Returning to France, Michel goes back to steal at the horse track, where he is caught redhanded by the police. Jeanne goes to visit him in jail.
Cast
- Martin LaSalle – Michel
- Marika GreenMarika GreenMarika Nicolette Green is a Swedish-French actress. She is mostly famous for playing the starring role in Robert Bresson's Pickpocket , and also for appearing in Emmanuelle ....
– Jeanne - Jean PélégriJean PélégriJean Pélégri was a writer and professor of literature. Of French descent, he was born in Algeria, but left as part of the diaspora of French colonists referred to as pied-noirs following the Algerian War....
– Chief Inspector - Dolly Scal – The Mother
- Pierre Leymarie – Jacques
- Kassagi – 1st Accomplice
- Pierre ÉtaixPierre ÉtaixPierre Étaix is a French clown, comedian and filmmaker. Étaix made a series of acclaimed short- and feature-length films in the 1960s, many of them co-written by influential screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière. He has won an Academy Award. Due to a legal dispute with a distribution company, these...
– 2nd Accomplice - César Gattegno – An Inspector
Soundtrack
The film uses two pieces of orchestral baroque musicBaroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
, which the credits attribute to Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste de Lully was an Italian-born French composer who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. He is considered the chief master of the French Baroque style. Lully disavowed any Italian influence in French music of the period. He became a French subject in...
. However, both fragments are taken from orchestral suite no. 7 by Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer
Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer
Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer was a German Baroque composer...
.
Scholarly and critical reception
The film is considered an example of "parametric narration" (in which the style "dominates the syuzhetFormalism (literature)
Formalism is a school of literary criticism and literary theory having mainly to do with structural purposes of a particular text.In literary theory, formalism refers to critical approaches that analyze, interpret, or evaluate the inherent features of a text. These features include not only grammar...
[plot] or is seemingly equal in importance to it".
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
sees echoes of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866. It was later published in a single volume. This is the second of Dostoyevsky's full-length novels following his...
in this film. "Bresson's Michel, like Dostoyevsky's hero Raskolnikov, needs money in order to realize his dreams, and sees no reason why some lackluster ordinary person should not be forced to supply it. The reasoning is immoral, but the characters claim special privileges above and beyond common morality. Michel, like the hero of Crime and Punishment, has a 'good woman' in his life, who trusts he will be able to redeem himself. ... She comes to Michel with the news that his mother is dying. Michel does not want to see his mother, but gives Jeanne money for her. Why does he avoid her? Bresson never supplies motives. We can only guess."
Influence
Pickpocket exerted a formative influence over the work of Paul SchraderPaul Schrader
Paul Joseph Schrader is an American screenwriter, film director, and former film critic. Apart from his credentials as a director, Schrader is most notably known for his screenplays for Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and Raging Bull....
, who has described it as "an unmitigated masterpiece" and "as close to perfect as there can be", and whose films American Gigolo
American Gigolo
American Gigolo is a 1980 crime drama film, written and directed by Paul Schrader. It is informally considered the second installment in his "lonely man" trilogy, following the Martin Scorsese directed Taxi Driver and preceding Light Sleeper .-Plot:Julian Kaye is a male prostitute in Los Angeles...
, Patty Hearst
Patty Hearst (film)
Patty Hearst is a 1988 biographical film directed by Paul Schrader and stars Natasha Richardson as Hearst Corporation heiress Patricia Hearst and Ving Rhames as Symbionese Liberation Army leader Cinque...
, and Light Sleeper
Light Sleeper
Light Sleeper is an US-american drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader in 1992. It stars Willem Dafoe, Susan Sarandon, and Dana Delany....
all include endings similar to that of Pickpocket.
In addition, his screenplay for Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's Taxi Driver
Taxi Driver
Taxi Driver is a 1976 American drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. The film is set in New York City, soon after the Vietnam War. The film stars Robert De Niro and features Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, and Cybill Shepherd. The film was nominated for four Academy...
bears many similarities, including confessional narration and a voyeuristic look at society. Schrader's admiration for Pickpocket led to his contribution in an extra in The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection is a video-distribution company selling "important classic and contemporary films" to film aficionados. The Criterion series is noted for helping to standardize the letterbox format for home video, bonus features, and special editions...
's DVD release in 2005.
Pickpocket has been paraphrased by other films, such as Leos Carax
Leos Carax
Leos Carax is a French-born film director, critic, and writer. Carax is noted for his poetic style and his tortured depictions of love. His first major work was Boy Meets Girl , and his notable works include Lovers on the Bridge and the controversial Pola X...
's Les Amants du Pont-Neuf
Les Amants du Pont-Neuf
Les Amants du Pont-Neuf is a 1991 French film directed by Leos Carax, starring Juliette Binoche and Denis Lavant. The title refers to the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris...
.
Awards
Nominated- Berlin Film Festival10th Berlin International Film FestivalThe 10th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 24 June to 5 July 1960.-Jury:* Harold Lloyd * Georges Auric* Henry Reed* Sohrab Modi* Floris Luigi Ammannati* Hidemi Ima* Joaquín de Entrambasaguas* Frank Wisbar...
: Golden BearGolden BearAccording to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....