Without A Trace (Bresson ni vu ni connu)
François Weyergans — France, 1994 · 64 min · B&W · First Run Icarus Films
Usually a man of few words, having never before granted an interview on camera, Bresson agreed to answer the questions of a then-unknown writer François Weyergans, for the Cinéaste de Notre Temps series.
Road to Bresson (De Weg naar Bresson)
Leo De Boer, Jurrien Rood — Netherlands, 1984 · 54 min · Dutch Filmmuseum
Featuring Robert Bresson, Dominique Sanda, Paul Schrader, Andrei Tarkovsky, and Orson Welles. Recorded in Cannes in 1983 while L'Argent was in competition, this excellent documentary interviews numerous directors — Louis Malle, Andrei Tarkovsky, and Paul Schrader (who wrote an influential book on Bresson) — and, after comically protracted attempts, finally the master himself. Interspersed with excerpts from Lancelot du Lac, Un condamné à mort s'est échappé and Le Diable probablement, it conveys his aesthetic with precision. When Bresson is asked whether his films are not very pessimistic, he replies simply: "One must not confuse pessimism with lucidity."
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Zum Beispiel Bresson
Theodor Kotulla — Germany, 1966 · 13 min
Bresson's uncompromising films naturally found no large popular audiences — he even ruined some of his producers — yet among critics and colleagues he was considered one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century, in any medium. In Zum Beispiel Bresson, Theodor Kotulla, associated with the journal Filmkritik, observes the director at work during the filming of Mouchette.
Interprètes de Bresson
Michèle Brujaille — France, 1989 · 46 min
Almost all of Bresson's female leads — most of them fascinatingly aged — are brought together before the camera to speak about their experiences working with him. A beautiful and informative tribute to the great director.
With: Renée Faure, Jany Holt, Maria Casarès, Elina Labourdette, Marika Green, Florence Carrez, Nadine Nortier, Dominique Sanda, Isabelle Weingarten, Laura Duke Condominas, Tina Irissari, Sylvie Van den Elsen.
"L'Argent" von Robert Bresson
Harun Farocki, Hartmut Bitomsky, Manfred Blank — Germany, 1983 · 30 min
For the German journal Filmkritik, Bresson was a standard-bearer in the case for new approaches to film culture against prevailing orthodoxies. Two intelligent documentaries, produced by contributors for WDR's once-remarkable film documentary strand: both deal with empathy and intelligence with Bresson's late period — the extremely austere, monumental final works that left many of his earlier admirers astonished.
Robert Bresson — Inthronisation und Sturz
Manfred Blank — Germany, 1987 · 43 min
See description of the film above.
Les Modèles de Pickpocket
Babette Mangolte — U.S.A., 2003 · 89 min
Bresson's essentialist aesthetic was in every respect a radical challenge to conventional cinema. The most decisive break was his use of so-called "models" — mostly non-professional actors whom he forbade any form of "acting," instead driving them through countless repetitions toward a monotonous, automatic delivery, eliminating any aestheticising distraction. Through interviews with the performers of Pickpocket, Babette Mangolte examines the demands and lasting effects of this approach.