00:05Hello there, I'm so happy to have you with me for TCM Imports.
00:09I'm Alicia Malone, and tonight on our little weekly exploration of international cinema,
00:14we have just one movie, and it's one made by the master French filmmaker Robert Bresson.
00:19From 1959, it's Pickpocket.
00:22Bresson only directed 13 features over a four-decade career,
00:27but his impact on cinema has been immeasurable.
00:30He became known for his austere and sparse style,
00:34which has been imitated so many times that the term Bressonian exists.
00:39Bresson did not like using a lot of sound effects or hiring professional actors
00:43or even relying on conventional storytelling techniques.
00:47Instead, he focused on silences and editing short shots, which built up to a rhythm.
00:53Also hiring models, as he called them, non-professional actors who he encouraged to show minimal emotion.
01:01Bresson's films often had a religious theme, and for this crime drama,
01:05he was inspired by Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment,
01:09and reportedly Samuel Fuller's film noir Pickup on South Street.
01:13Bresson's story follows a petty thief named Michel,
01:16who doesn't feel much at all except when he's stealing from strangers.
01:20The act of pickpocketing becomes like an addiction for him,
01:25making him feel alive, connected to others, and a little sexually excited.
01:30From 1959, starring first-time actor Martin LaSalle, this is Pickpocket.
01:45We'll see you next time.
