Review of L'Argent (1983) by Matthew C — 14 Feb 2008
How can one review a Bresson film? Watching L'Argent we're lulled into the director's particular pace, the world viewed at obscure angles, character motivations entirely witheld. It feels absolutely necessary - Bresson has tapped into a particular power of cinema, and by this, his final film, has honed it to perfection.
The penultimate scene is an absolute tour de force as vile as American Psycho (almost) without the gore, the bank robbery as gripping as Heat but a fraction of the length, the prison scenes as resonant as Shawshank without the melodrama - with L'Argent Bresson achieves an economical narrative driven poetry, which hammers its point home without the poetic flourishes of his previous work.
And the point, as in all great cinema, is one which can only be made in the cinematic form - we're blown away, but remain as inarticulate about why as Bresson's characters.
This review of L'Argent (1983) was written by Matthew C on 14 Feb 2008.
L'Argent has generally received very positive reviews.
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