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Pickpocket
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Pickpocket (1959)

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User Rating: 8.0/10 (2,722 votes)
Photos (see all 3 | slideshow)

Overview

Director:
Robert Bresson
Writer:
Robert Bresson (writer)
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Release Date:
December 1959 (France) more
Genre:
Crime | Drama more
Plot:
Michel is released from jail after serving a sentence for thievery. His mother dies and he resorts to pickpocketing as a means of survival. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
2 nominations more
User Comments:
Comic relief in an otherwise humorless film more

Cast

 (Complete credited cast)
Martin LaSalle ... Michel (as Martin La Salle)
Marika Green ... Jeanne
Jean Pélégri ... L'inspecteur principal
Dolly Scal ... La mère
Pierre Leymarie ... Jacques
Kassagi ... 1er complice
Pierre Étaix ... 2ème complice
César Gattegno ... Un inspecteur
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Incertitude (France) (working title)
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Runtime:
75 min | Finland:77 min (1965) | Argentina:79 min
Country:
France
Language:
French
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Filming Locations:
Paris, France
MOVIEmeter: ?
^ 1% since last week why?

Fun Stuff

Movie Connections:
Referenced in 'Je vous salue, Marie' (1985) more
Soundtrack:
Suite de symphonies d'Amadis more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
28 out of 45 people found the following comment useful:-
Comic relief in an otherwise humorless film, 22 October 2004
Author: Miles-10 from Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

To my previous comments, I should like to add/correct. When I said that Kassagi, who plays "first accomplice" (1er complice), was a 'real-life pickpocket who served as the film's technical consultant' I was not only inaccurate, but the fact that Kassagi was actually a stage magician has some bearing on the film itself, for although the scene in which the pickpockets rip off a series of train passengers is authentic in that it shows how pickpockets operate in terms of teamwork and speed, nevertheless, the moment when Kassagi (?) 'neatly replac[es] the lightened wallet [back] in a man's pocket' is not something a real pickpocket would likely do; it is, however, exactly what a stage magician would do. A real pickpocket has no audience (or so he hopes) whereas a magician wants the audience to see him make a monkey of the hapless "volunteer from the audience." In this case, Kassagi's idea (as I am sure it was) provides a brief moment of comic relief in the middle of a movie that is otherwise without a lot of humor. It is a welcome touch and Bresson was wise to keep it in. Now, I also engaged in a fallacy when I said that 'American pickpockets traditionally prefer to steal from behind to avoid any chance of a mark seeing their faces.' In reality, American pickpockets take from behind because of necessity: even by 1959 when 'Pickpocket" was released, American men more and more carried their wallets in the hip pocket whereas European men, as can be seen in this film, continued to use the inside breast pocket. While the business about seeing the mark's face is part of the lore of American petty criminals, it is not the cause of the American style of picking pockets, but rather a rationalization after the fact.

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Paul Schrader on Pickpocket. liron_zu
Marika Green IS Natalie Portman. N720MF
Can someone who loves this film defend it? richardinkerry
original title? kbenko
Australian re-release? tegoodfellow
The Score tehaurey
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