Pickpocket
d. Robert Bresson, 1959
More than any other film I've seen, Pickpocket seems to be the dividing line between classic and modern cinema. This may be due to the fact that Robert Bresson, unlike new wave directors like Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut, was making movies before the actual movement. Pickpocket stands aside from films of the era like Godard's Breathless and Truffaut's 400 Blows and provides a much different experience.
This is probably the most unconventional of all crime thrillers, if it can even be called that. The film is not interested in the high-points or pay-offs of those films, but instead turns out to be a character study of a lonely soul. The pickpocket is Michel, a lonely Parisian who, more or less, appears to be stealing not because he is greedy (though he may very well be), but because it provides some sort of social interaction in his otherwise mundane life.
Bresson's film is very ambiguous, and not at all manipulative, largely due to the performances. He is known for not wanting his actors to emote, he prefers them to merely physically move and let the audience draw its own conclusions from the story and imagery of the film. While watching Pickpocket, I was reminded of the absurdist prose of Albert Camus; Meursault in The Stranger is just as distant and unaffected at the face of everyday life as Michel.
Needless to say, I enjoyed the film and highly recommend it. However, I don't think I've really gathered my thoughts on it just yet. I'll extend on my interpretation after a second viewing.
