Robert Bresson: A Passion for Film

by Tony Pipolo

Perhaps the most highly regarded French filmmaker after Jean Renoir, Robert Bresson created a new kind of cinema through meticulous refinement of the form's grammatical and expressive possibilities. In thirteen features over a forty-year career, he held to an uncompromising moral vision and aesthetic rigor that remain unmatched. Robert A Passion for Film is the first comprehensive study to give equal attention to the films, their literary sources, and psycho-biographical aspects of the work. Concentrating on the films' cinematographic, imagistic, narrative, and thematic structures, Pipolo provides a nuanced analysis of each film-including nearly 100 illustrations-elucidating Bresson's unique style as it evolved from the impassioned Les Anges du péche to such disconsolate meditations on the world as The Devil Probably and L'Argent. Special attention is also given to psychosexual aspects of the films that are usually neglected. Bresson has long needed a thoroughgoing
treatment by a critic worthy to the he gets it here. From it emerges a provocative portrait of an extraordinary artist whose moral engagement and devotion to the craft of filmmaking are without equal.

Genres: Film, France

407 pages, Paperback

First published December 9, 2009

Reviews

[John Ledingham · Rating 4 out of 5]

think i bought this in 2014 or 15 when i was really deep diving the european arthouse and spent some time reading it again 2017 doing a bresson revisit and now went through it pretty in-depth doing an article on bresson. pipolo's pretty set in a christian-psychoanalytic framework which is not at all a bad frame to view bresson in but it ends up kind of rigid and one note and there was maybe more film-theoretic type stuff that could be said on such a stylist as this. anyways this is a really great book that has helped shape my understanding of bresson and i commend the accomplishment. one of those books - like bresson himself- ill keep coming back to

[Edwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tony Pipolo is Professor Emeritus of Film and Literature at the City University of New York. He's also a practicing psychoanalysis out of New York . It's his passion for film in conjunction with his Psychoanalytocal skills that allow him to peer deep into the psychological make-up of Bresson's art. Coincidentally enough, Bresson himself has gone on record in saying that he does his best to remove any psychology from his films, however, after reading this title, I'd argue that that's a task that is seemingly impossible. To be an aueteur as Bresson very much was, ones psychology would be inextricably linked into the work, and as private as Bresson was, there was a lot that could be learned about him through his work and vice versa. It's this that I feel sets this title apart from others on the same subject, primarily James Quandt's title. Though that book is pretty exhaustive, with input from a number of different contributors, such as critics, film historians and fellow filmmakers, the book suffers from lacking any real unifying theme other the subject matter itself. Everyone seems to have differnt ideas on Bresson, and some are even conflicting with one another.It's Pipolo ' s singular vision and approach to each of Bresson's thirteen features that make this such a comprehensive read. Pipolo helps add dimension to all of the characters in these films by employing the very method that Bresson wanted his viewers to heed to in order to get the most out of his "cinematography" as he puts it. Pipolo seems to have a real understanding of Bresson's approach and he is very good at relaying that knowledge to the reader. He addresses Bresson's expressionless "models", the heightened sound effects, his obsession with virginal characters, his clear Dostoevskian influence, his preference for elliptical narratives, his complete and utter rejection of theater and all things associated with it. These are just some of the components that made up Bresson's very self contained and independent view of cinema and Pipolo seems intent on navigating through all of them and more to get to the heart of Bresson's work. I'd recommend this book to anybody interested in Robert Bresson, works great as a guide to his entire filmography (Except Les Affaires Publique) and stands alone as a great read in understanding film better for the novice reader.