dave s
Robert Bresson's Mouchette is a stark and austere film about the randomness of misfortune. Mouchette (Nadine Nortier) is a young teenager living in abject poverty in a small French village. Due to her mother's terminal illness and her father's alcoholism, she is the sole provider for her infant brother. Tormented by fellow students and her teacher, life outside of her home is equally difficult. Nothing Mouchette has done warrants the difficulties life has presented to her – she is simply an accepting victim of her fate, unaware of any potential alternatives. As always, Bresson is objective in presenting the story, allowing the audience to draw its own conclusions. It is a heartbreaking and tragic story of desperation and the struggle to survive, a bleak but somehow rewarding, and possibly even inspiring, cinematic experience.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
03/30/23
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Audience Member
Colour me impressed for the first time by a Bresson film! Finally, it's safe to say his minimalistic approach works here for me for the most part. A story with a misanthropic world view of a girl that bears the indifference and abasement with her mouth shut most of the time is definitely one that suits if not even demands such method. In the other two films I've seen by him, Pickpocket and L'Argent, scenes showing physical attack or intense emotions — especially in the former — came across as laughably robotic whereas here similar scenes further accentuate the apathy and lack of compassion plaguing Mouchette's village. The striking austerity apparent in some of the abrupt cuts accompanied with economical compositions and extreme close-ups here implemented to bring far more effective results. By suddenly moving from a scene to another, the contrast stemming from such jarring succession hits harder than usual, and by showcasing the subject solely in a frame, every revelation, however subtle it is, is highlighted. This is not saying the film doesn't have moments that had me yawning every now and then, like pretty much every scene has to do with the storyline revolving around Luisa.
Even before the opening titles show on screen, Mouchette starts with a woman in tears, lamenting her ill-fated children. No wonder why she does so. Mouchette lives in a cruel, merciless world of bootleggers and poachers. She's humiliated in school by her teacher for refusing to sing or singing off-note while being laughed at by her classmates she's an outcast among them. The only sign of recognition from her alcoholic father is when she's done something wrong and chastised for it. Her bedridden mother has no one but her to do all the housework and care for her and the baby. But who cares, nay, acknowledges her existence. Even when she gets back at her classmates while low-key trying to get their attention, they just run away from her without showing a hint of either annoyance or regard. She's simply a persona non grata in her village.
spoilery points and vague allusions to the ending!
Early on, we see a bird trapped in a snare not long before it's set free. Whilst this could be seen as a glimmer of hope in the sense it's a foreshadowing metaphor for how things end up for Mouchette, it turns out to be a quite misleading one. Moreover, in a considerably cheerful scene, which are a rarity in this film, we see Mouchette riding a dodgem, bumping into a car of a young man in some sort of filtration, only to be slapped on the face twice by her father a minute or so later. Aside from how it ends, the way this joyous scene of dodgems stands out in such a film shrouded with misery had it hewn in my head throughout the film's runtime, only to recall it later with a similarly-edited scene at the end of rabbits hopelessly dodging the poachers' bullets as our girl witnesses such brutality in mixed emotions of rage and mourning. But this time there are no longer tears rushing out over her cheeks. This was her witnessing an affirmation of her fateful destiny led by ruthlessness and rejection, resulting in confused emotions and unfocused rebellion, and ending with killing innocence and purity. Disregarding the drastically different themes, I couldn't help recalling Jack from Lord of the Flies. Weeping would've been a far more hopeful note to end on, though.
P.S. Nadine Nortier delivered one of the best child performances ever in my book.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/07/23
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Audience Member
What an excellent film from the great Robert Bresson. It is a simple story, effectively a tragedy, that follows the story of a young girl who is an outcast. her mother is dying, her father is a useless drunk, and she has a baby brother who needs to be cared for. The way Bresson shoots the film and tells the story really involves you in it. It appears simply told, but there is so much going only from choice and use of music, to sounds effects, to the things happening that Bresson chooses not to show. It is the work of a Master, and I highly recommend it for serious film fans.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/06/23
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Audience Member
Typically of Mr. Bresson's work, Mouchette is difficult to watch, yet well-made. But also as usual, its gloomy storyline is supported by shattering beauty.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/17/23
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Audience Member
Mouchette is wholly and completely devoted to the depiction of cruelty. There isn't an ounce of goodwill portrayed in this film that isn't immediately taken away or nullified by some subsequent action, there are no ups and downs for Mouchette as she tries to live her life, and there are no signs that her suffering has any larger purpose in regards to the human existence. Cruelty exists and it is unflinching and unrelenting to those without the means to fight against it, and Mouchette is certainly one of those helpless souls; we see her struggle to take care of her dying mother, abusive father, and infant brother, we see her raped, beaten, verbally abused, mocked, and threatened to the point that she becomes numb to the world entirely.
In a social environment where the poor are considered irrelevant and purposeless, their own struggles due to their own carelessness or laziness, where the destroyed are forgotten and the oppressed ignored, these kinds of films have to be made as a means of rebellion. The world is only death to those like Mouchette, and this message is what makes Mouchette a vital, heartbreaking piece of filmmaking.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/10/23
Full Review
Audience Member
"If the eye is entirely won, give nothing or almost nothing to the ear. One cannot be at the same time all eye and all ear." - Bresson
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
01/27/23
Full Review
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