Robert Bresson

In the history of cinema

Robert Bresson is recognized as one of the most illogical directors. The minimalist style of Bresson’s films, which incorporated few to no close-ups and musical accompaniment, is well-known. The films’ distinctive production techniques helped them stand out and grab audiences’ attention. For instance, Bresson preferred to use “models” rather than professional performers in his films. Bresson believed that thinking on who the characters are rather than what they do is the greatest method to create the picture that is needed in a movie. Themes of salvation, pain, and estrangement are also prevalent in Bresson’s films.

Tony Pipolo’s Analysis

Many have attempted to analyze Bresson’s films. However, Tony Pipolo has stood out as the most effective. Pipolo’s “Bresson: A Passion for Film” is not just the longest but also the most detailed piece on Bresson’s films. Written by a practicing psychoanalyst and professor of film, the piece includes all the most vital aspects of film analysis. The two academic areas of Pipolo are well reflected in his analysis as it includes the common methods of analysis as well as psychoanalysis. Pipolo gives a detailed thematic analysis of Bresson’s work and identifies the director’s constant depiction of virginity, suffering, and salvation. Pipolo also identifies Bresson’s techniques in various films. For example, the book identifies the deployment of off-screen space and sound to capture the audience’s attention in “Un condamné à mort s’est échappé,” the counter shot that never was in “Journal d’un curé de campagne” (Pipolo 85). The author identifies both Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis to identify the director’s aim in most of his films. For example, Pipolo identifies that lack was the ruling sentiment in “Lancelot du lac” (Pipolo 283) and that in “Pickpocket,” Michel had submitted to a group psychology that aimed to flatter the boy’s immature ego just like many other unstable young people.

Engaging Book

Pipolo uses many strategies to make the book engaging as well as appealing to the reader. For example, the book is written in a highly readable prose. The text also incorporates all the crucial details that would impact on the director’s strategy and technique choice. The book starts with a highly detailed probe of Bresson’s biographical elements and how they may have impacted his work. There is also an appeal to ethos when the author includes the endorsements of Martin Scorsese and Dudley Andrew, well-renowned film theorists.

Work Cited

Pipolo, Tony. Robert Bresson: A love for Film. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.