Pickpocket

“If I can replace an image with a sound, I do so,” says Robert Bresson. With characteristic clarity, he thus isolates the whistling of trains, the clicking of handcuffs or the sound of footsteps on the streets of Paris, thereby drowning out the conversations of the passers-by, who soon can no longer be heard. Accompanied by a first-person narrator speaking in voiceover, the young pickpocket Michel moves through this heavily stylized soundscape as he becomes a nimble-fingered member of a group of pickpockets. The key scene is an elaborate ballet of hands, a brilliant circular movement of wallets, money envelopes and watches. Bresson weaves the petty criminals’ work into a fascinating montage, creating a dance of hand gestures, objects and glances. (mg)