Review of Mouchette (1967) by Arash X — 04 Feb 2009

As film scholar Tony Rayns mentions in the film's opening scene, Mouchette is an account of the transition from girlhood to adolescence and the disappearance of a person from society. My initial concern was for Mouchette's deprived familial life, her failed escapism and rather cruel rites of passage. This is a study of a failing life and ignorant community.

Mouchette is characterized by harsh scenes of sex and violence cleverly masked or underplayed by Bresson's direction. This sort of understatement gives the film a subtle, minimalist feel with a lingering, almost unclear purpose. Mouchette exemplifies this ambiguity in her social rebellion, which sends her into the village's game fields where by chance she encounters the poacher Arsene. Is it fate? The film never clearly defines Mouchette's motivations for this action, but her societal dissatisfaction forces her to take refuge in the lone wilderness (or at least the closest she can find to it) even when caught in a storm.

Much of the film is composed of short incomplete scenes that disappear and fade into one another, which epitomize the banal routine of the townspeople. The rashness of these scenes is uncomfortable and enigmatic; the characters who come and go at leisure care little about decency and moral duty. They seek only personal profit, so Mouchette inevitably rejects everyone and finds her own tragic solace.