Pickpocket

HERE’S MY ROBERT BRESSON LIST PICKPOCKET (1959) This story of crime and redemption from the French master Robert Bresson follows Michel, a young pickpocket who spends his days working the streets, subway cars, and train stations of Paris. As his compulsive pursuit of the thrill of stealing grows, however, so does his fear that his luck is about to run out. A cornerstone of the career of this most economical and profoundly spiritual of filmmakers, Pickpocket is an elegantly crafted, tautly choreographed study of humanity in all its mischief and grace. Martin LaSalle plays Michel, a young boy, who has developed pickpocketing as a hobby, however, you probably won’t be able to spot him: all that’s left of his performance is one of his hands, artfully filching a wallet, but he is arrested almost immediately, giving him the chance to reflect on the morality of crime. After his release, though, his mother dies, he rejects the support of friends Jeanne and Jacques in favour of returning to pickpocketing (after taking lessons from an expert) probably because he realises that it’s the only way he can express himself… “””””””“True, Michel could get a job. But stealing has a specific psychosexual meaning for him, beyond fulfilling the simple need to eat. Michel is like a man who knows he can cop an orgasm if he manages to be in the right place at the right time and rubs up against the right partner. His fears are more logistical than spiritual, and also function as a stimulant.””””””” I could see another director taking the same plot points and making the film more exciting, less memorable, more fleeting and a less intellectual experience, while also improving on some of the less explored areas of the plot like : the money he steals, what is he using it for, how much time does it last, how long after he has to steal again, rather this film is not just about what happens to Michel, it’s about exploring his soul, why he becomes what he becomes, how he lives with it, and why he comes back to it.