Cinema
Mouchette
Robert Bresson · 1967
Synopsis
Mouchette, fourteen, lives in a village in great poverty: her mother is dying, she looks after her baby brother, and her father, brutal, drinks. At school as in the village, she is treated harshly, and she answers with distrust. One fairground day, a boy courts her on the bumper cars. One stormy evening, lost in the woods, she runs into Arsène, a drunken poacher who believes he has killed the gamekeeper, Mathieu.
Context
The film is based on Nouvelle histoire de Mouchette, a novel by Georges Bernanos published in 1937. The lead role is played by Nadine Nortier, who was not an actress, and Jean-Claude Guilbert plays Arsène. Bresson said he had found neither psychology nor analysis in the book, and had judged its substance usable. The black-and-white photography is by Ghislain Cloquet, and the trailer was edited by Jean-Luc Godard.
Who it is for
Eighty-one minutes; a brief, harsh film with performers who use no effects, and which demands attention.
Prizes and reception
Prize of the International Catholic Office for Cinema at Cannes in 1967 and the Pasinetti Prize at Venice the same year.
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