Robert Bresson's short and tight classic is well put together and timed, with some laughably smart movements, if it doesn't quite reach the great emotional pitches.
The langour of the lead character, his blankness and the way he walks, all add to a dream-like quality of the screen. The impression is given that there are no backgrounds, that we have large, primary coloured blocks slinking around from one to the other. The lack of emotion shown by the characters, the large open spaces seemingly surrounding everyone and everything, give a quality achieved by perfectly executed, wide direction.
The plot is secondary to form here, it is designed to show wonderful scenes of fingersmith, of suggestion of what we can not see. The character's reticence, at times the lacks of narrative surrounding them and lack of emotional linearity, does have a pleasing roll to it. We certainly don't identify with anyone; this is a strength in the pureness of the piece and is a drawback to traditional wishes for identification. Perhaps a certain mood needs to be reached to fully appreciated the smart aesthetics of Bresson.
Overall, we did enjoy watching this film, if we were not quite able to fully enagage with it. A beautiful, muscular direction in its own way, Bresson will be revisited with more than curiosity.
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