350. Pickpocket

Pickpocket
1959
Directed by Robert Bresson

I hope everyone enjoys the new feature I added to the blog's sidebar.  I have labeled each post by director so instead of scrolling through the archives by year, you can now easily find a film you are looking for.  It has also helped me realize how many films I have seen by each director.  I did not know I had spent that much time with Howard Hawks.

Anyway, here we have Pickpocket, which is one of those movies that I like in theory but the execution was not great.  This is the story of Michel who compulsively steals but isn't especially good at it. He tries to quit many times but never can resist for long, even when a hot dame is involved.

Kleptomania is definitely an interesting topic.  I know a lot of people that want to learn how to pickpocket (though they claim they would give someone their wallet back immediately).  It seems to be the ultimate rush, which is why I thought it would be exciting to see it on film.  I was somewhat disappointed.

Let me start by saying that the pickpocketing scenes were very exciting.  In fact, when the film opens with Marcel stealing cash at a horse race, I thought I had found a new favorite.  However, the plot quickly moved to things that I really didn't care about, like Marcel's mom or the romance between Jacques and Jeanne.  Additionally, none of the actors really sell their roles; I got rather bored watching them since they generally only had one expression.

So points for the pickpocketing scenes but a thumbs down overall.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

An early example of parametric narration (the style is shown to be as important as the plot).  A one way ticket to dull films if you ask me.

Roger Ebert compared this film to Crime and Punishment.  God, I hated Crime and Punishment.