Robert Bresson

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Robert Bresson

#126 Post by Michael Kerpan » Fri Mar 06, 2020 12:52 pm

MichaelB -- Great recommendations!

i.e. - I agree completely :-)

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whaleallright
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am

Re: Robert Bresson

#127 Post by whaleallright » Fri Mar 06, 2020 10:51 pm

The Kazakh director Darezhan Omirbaev built his own style out of some very Bressonian techniques. His Killer is almost too indebted to L'Argent (and feels almost programmatic for that), but his two earlier features, Kairat and Cardiogram are two of the greatest "Bressonian" films I know. They are on a French DVD (still available) with English subtitles.

Another example would be the Indian director Mani Kaul, whose first feature, Uski Roti, is very indebted to Bresson. I believe a restored version of that one is on some streaming services.

Certain of Jean-Claude Brisseau's films take elements of Bresson's style in some unexpected (to say the least) directions. I'd recommend Sound and Fury (Du bruit et du fureur) as a place to begin; it's one of the greatest French films of the '80s, or possibly ever.

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dda1996a
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Re: Robert Bresson

#128 Post by dda1996a » Sat Mar 07, 2020 11:46 am

I actually just watched the last two films Omirbayev made: Chouga and Student. Student is incredibly indebted to Bresson, and while it lacks quite a lot I still rather liked it. Chouga was much better in my opinion, Omirbayev's ellipses and minimalism making me really giddy almost through the whole film. They both also use Bresson's silence, expressionless actors and are both adapted from Russian classics (Crime and Punishment and Anna Karenina), but it is his style that really makes the difference (and indeed what I was looking for). But I hope this brings his films to more people!
Thanks for the other two. I have most of Brisseau's films, but have yet to watch a single one. Of Kaul I have never heard actually!

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whaleallright
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Re: Robert Bresson

#129 Post by whaleallright » Fri Mar 13, 2020 12:14 pm

Of those I only saw Chouga and I was not too keen on it; as with Killer, the Bressonian stylistics were "applied" in an fashion I found drab and lacking in invention compared to Omirbaev's earlier films. (FWIW, Bresson's widow, Mylène, uncharitably referred to Killer as "L'argent raté.") That said, it's probably been 10 years since I saw either, so I might need to revisit.

I follow Omirbaev on Facebook, and his posts are largely quotations from Notes on the Cinematographer translated into Russian!

Btw, his wonderful short July is on YouTube (in three parts IIRC); motifs from that little film pop up in nearly all of his subsequent features.

... and if it hasn't come up, I ought to mention Walter Hill's The Driver, which features some very Bressonian action cutting(!) and uses Ryan O'Neal and Isabelle Adjani much as Bresson used his modèles.

accatone
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Re: Robert Bresson

#130 Post by accatone » Thu Nov 04, 2021 6:35 am

There is German bluray available now of Lancelot du Lac:

https://alive-ag.de/detail/index/sArtic ... tegory/339

The link says Engl. subtitles. The amazon page is showing the back cover that also says Engl. subtitles. I have no idea about the image quality but ordered the disc anyway in support of releasing Bresson films in Germany (at all)…

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jegharfangetmigenmyg
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Re: Robert Bresson

#131 Post by jegharfangetmigenmyg » Thu Nov 04, 2021 8:48 am

It's also out in France next month. It's probably the same restoration that was released on blu-ray in Japan back in 2019. I saw some screenshots that looked completely off, colourwise. Don't remember if it was a Ritrovata or Eclair job, but definitely one of those.

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tenia
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Re: Robert Bresson

#132 Post by tenia » Thu Nov 04, 2021 11:21 am

The Gaumont disc looks a bit dark but other than that, it looks balanced. I'd guess Hiventy. Certainly not Ritrovata. If it's Eclair, then I'd be happy with them doing things this way now.

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jsteffe
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Re: Robert Bresson

#133 Post by jsteffe » Thu Nov 04, 2021 11:26 am

tenia wrote:
Thu Nov 04, 2021 11:21 am
The Gaumont disc looks a bit dark but other than that, it looks balanced. I'd guess Hiventy. Certainly not Ritrovata. If it's Eclair, then I'd be happy with them doing things this way now.
Have you posted screencaps? I'd like to see the Gaumont compared to the Japanese disc.

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tenia
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Re: Robert Bresson

#134 Post by tenia » Thu Nov 04, 2021 12:35 pm

Not yet. I received the disc only yesterday, only had a quick look at it before launching the BD Info scan, and probably won't have the time to give it a deeper look before next Wednesday at least. I'll try and do a couple of screencaps this evening if I can find the time.

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RobertB
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Re: Robert Bresson

#135 Post by RobertB » Thu Nov 04, 2021 1:17 pm

Looks like the French disc doesn't have English subtitles. Can you confirm this? Making the German the one to get for me in that case.

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tenia
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Re: Robert Bresson

#136 Post by tenia » Thu Nov 04, 2021 1:39 pm

I doubt the extras are subtitled in English but the main feature is.
Here are some caps I just made :

Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image

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jsteffe
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Re: Robert Bresson

#137 Post by jsteffe » Thu Nov 04, 2021 2:29 pm

Thanks! I'm looking forward to comparing these to the Japanese Blu-ray.

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hearthesilence
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Re: Robert Bresson

#138 Post by hearthesilence » Thu Nov 04, 2021 2:55 pm

Hey, this actually looks pretty good! A touch on the dark side, but probably within reasonable bounds - I actually saw this projected at BAM, and this looks comparable to what I remember.

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RobertB
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Re: Robert Bresson

#139 Post by RobertB » Thu Nov 04, 2021 3:44 pm

tenia wrote:
Thu Nov 04, 2021 1:39 pm
I doubt the extras are subtitled in English but the main feature is.
Thank you. That will do. I was going to get a couple of discs from France anyway, and will include this. Hopefully Criterion will release it some time in the future, but I have double-dipped most of the Bresson films on Blu Ray already, so why stop now? It's my way of supporting the releases.

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Re: Robert Bresson

#140 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Thu Nov 04, 2021 4:00 pm

tenia wrote:
Thu Nov 04, 2021 11:21 am
The Gaumont disc looks a bit dark but other than that, it looks balanced. I'd guess Hiventy. Certainly not Ritrovata. If it's Eclair, then I'd be happy with them doing things this way now.
It's Eclair: https://eclair.digital/en/news/eclair-a ... ture-films

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tenia
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Re: Robert Bresson

#141 Post by tenia » Thu Nov 04, 2021 4:11 pm

Thanks for the find, I didn't take the time to look first as I didn't think I'd have it and rushed to do the caps instead.

There are a couple of spots that looked like something only Eclair would do (caps 5 and 12), but usually, faces in darker shots (like caps 2 and 4) are also typically tealed, and since those aren't and I couldn't find other spots typically tealed, that got me think it might not be them. I've never been so glad not to be able to guess whose work this is from.

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jsteffe
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Re: Robert Bresson

#142 Post by jsteffe » Thu Nov 04, 2021 9:26 pm

tenia wrote:
Thu Nov 04, 2021 4:11 pm
Thanks for the find, I didn't take the time to look first as I didn't think I'd have it and rushed to do the caps instead.

There are a couple of spots that looked like something only Eclair would do (caps 5 and 12), but usually, faces in darker shots (like caps 2 and 4) are also typically tealed, and since those aren't and I couldn't find other spots typically tealed, that got me think it might not be them. I've never been so glad not to be able to guess whose work this is from.
I agree, it's far from the most obvious example of their work. Your screen caps look marginally brighter and less green/teal than the Japanese Blu-ray, but it's very subtle.

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reaky
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Re: Robert Bresson

#143 Post by reaky » Tue Mar 15, 2022 4:31 am

While on a short break in Paris last weekend (first trip out of the UK in two years), I made a pilgrimage to Robert Bresson’s home on the Île St-Louis. I believe he lived on the top floor.

Image
Image

henry001
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Re: Robert Bresson

#144 Post by henry001 » Sun Apr 10, 2022 12:58 pm

Getting more and more Bresson films on blu ray recent years (mostly coming from France and Japan), and the latest is Le Diable Probablement (Devil Probably) came from Japanese source. I wonder why US/UK manufacturers are not doing anything at all. Une Femme Douce is also restored and screened in theaters in Europe and Japan. Hopefully its blu ray comes out sooner.

By the way, when Charles (the main character in Le Diable Probablement) was on the way to have him killed by his heroine addicted friend, he heard Bach's piano piece was played on a TV monitor on someone's house, does anyone know which piano music it is? It is possibly The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach, but not sure.

Thanks in advance.

yoshimori
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Re: Robert Bresson

#145 Post by yoshimori » Sun Apr 10, 2022 2:28 pm

Not Bach. Mozart Concerto K. 488, second movement.

henry001
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Re: Robert Bresson

#146 Post by henry001 » Sun Apr 10, 2022 7:49 pm

yoshimori wrote:
Sun Apr 10, 2022 2:28 pm
Not Bach. Mozart Concerto K. 488, second movement.
That is right, thanks for correcting my misunderstanding.

Calvin
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Re: Robert Bresson

#147 Post by Calvin » Thu May 05, 2022 7:21 pm

There will be a retrospective at the BFI Southbank, London next month minus Four Nights of a Dreamer, that they seemingly couldn't get permission to screen

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GaryC
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Re: Robert Bresson

#148 Post by GaryC » Fri May 06, 2022 1:29 am

Calvin wrote:
Thu May 05, 2022 7:21 pm
There will be a retrospective at the BFI Southbank, London next month minus Four Nights of a Dreamer, that they seemingly couldn't get permission to screen
More a matter of availability, it seems. But there is a restoration on the way. From the BFI Southbank "Programme Changes" page:

Four Nights of a Dreamer
Fri 17 June 20:30 NFT2; Sun 26 June 13:10 NFT2 p28
Although we had hoped to include this rare title in the Robert Bresson retrospective, we are now unable to screen this film due to delays on the restoration and alternative screening materials being in very poor condition. The restoration should be completed in 2023 and we hope to present this film in the future. We apologise for any disappointed caused.

Calvin
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Re: Robert Bresson

#149 Post by Calvin » Fri May 06, 2022 3:34 am

Ah, that's actually fantastic news. Thanks for that. Though I am a little surprised that the BFI couldn't get a hold of anything decent for this season, considering there was a DCP made of the restoration that ended up getting a Blu-Ray release in Japan.

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Petty Bourgeoisie
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Re: Robert Bresson

#150 Post by Petty Bourgeoisie » Tue Nov 01, 2022 7:35 pm

Has anybody else gotten the sensation from a film that they have been given some secret type of knowledge? It's only happened to me several times and the last time was after watching McCabe and Miss Miller for the first time several years ago. My best attempt at a description is waking up the next morning after viewing the film, you've processed it in your subconscious and somehow you now have knowledge that assists you in making better sense of the world around you. Anyone?

I watched Four Nights of a Dreamer last night on youtube and I had that sensation this morning. Amazing film. Thanks to dvdbeaver for reminding me that this film was on my to-watch list.

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