So many buzzwords to describe his work:
Simple. Difficult. Affectless. Passionate. Spiritual. Secular. Coldly intellectual. Purifying. Uncompromising. His style both transcendent and malevolent.
Outside diehard cinephile fandom, no one really knows about Bresson. Scorsese says, “We’re still coming to terms with Robert Bresson and the peculiar power and beauty of his films.” He’s right. Much to unravel about France’s finest spiritual filmmaker.
Bresson interests me for several reasons: His intrinsic Catholic thought and hunt for cinematic divinity. The fact that he later became an ardent agnostic, does not believe, yet still respects belief and hope. The radical tonal shifts in his films post-1950s, where his religious sensibilities became more and more existential, dark, and pessimistic. His painterly eye and use of…
So many buzzwords to describe his work:
Simple. Difficult. Affectless. Passionate. Spiritual. Secular. Coldly intellectual. Purifying. Uncompromising. His style both transcendent and malevolent.
Outside diehard cinephile fandom, no one really knows about Bresson. Scorsese says, “We’re still coming to terms with Robert Bresson and the peculiar power and beauty of his films.” He’s right. Much to unravel about France’s finest spiritual filmmaker.
Bresson interests me for several reasons: His intrinsic Catholic thought and hunt for cinematic divinity. The fact that he later became an ardent agnostic, does not believe, yet still respects belief and hope. The radical tonal shifts in his films post-1950s, where his religious sensibilities became more and more existential, dark, and pessimistic. His painterly eye and use of composition. His fixation with prison metaphors, as means of spiritual confinement and liberty. His influence on Haneke.
On the point about prison metaphors, Bresson spent months as a p.o.w during WWII. With that kind of experience, matched with his formal Catholic training, I think there’s loads to explore and appreciate with what he brings to the screen.
He’s become one of my favorite filmmakers.
