Robert Bresson

by Reader, Keith

• ISBN13: 9780719053665
• ISBN10: 0719053668
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-06-15
• Publisher: MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS

Summary

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the work of Robert Bresson, one of the most respected and acclaimed directors in the history of cinema. Bresson's unique use of "models" (he refuses the term "actors"), his sparse and elliptical editing style, his rejection of conventional psychological realism make his work all but unique and instantly recognizable. This is the first monograph on his work to appear in English for many years, and deals with his thirteen feature-length films and his short treatise "Notes on Cinematography."

Author Biography

Keith Reader is Professor of French at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Table of Contents

List of Plates	vi
Series Editors' Foreword	vii
Preface	ix
Introduction	1	(11)
`Bresson before Bresson': Affairs publiques, Les Anges du peche and Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne	12	(18)
Journal d'une cure de campagne	30	(13)
The `prison cycle': Un condamne a mort s'est echappe, Pickpocket and Le Proces de Jeanne d'Arc	43	(33)
The last black-and-white films: Au hasard Balthazar and Mouchette	76	(22)
Bresson and Dostoevsky: Une femme douce and Quatre nuits d'un reveur	98	(18)
Sixth time lucky: Lancelot du lac	116	(10)
The director as writer: Notes sur le cinematographe	126	(6)
Civilisation and its discontents: Le Diable probablement and L'Argent	132	(22)
Filmography	154	(6)
Select Bibliography	160	(2)
Index	162