Mouchette (1967)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Robert Bresson

Writers:

Georges Bernanos (novel) and
Robert Bresson (scenario & adaptation and dialogue)

Release Date:

12 March 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Mouchette is a young teenager living in the tough country. Her mother is going to die, and her father does not take care of her...

Plot Keywords:

Poacher | Woods | Humiliation | Girl | Police Officer Killed

Awards:

4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Nadine Nortier	...	Mouchette
Jean-Claude Guilbert	...	Arsène
Marie Cardinal	...	Mouchette's Mother
Paul Hebert	...	Mouchette's Father
Jean Vimenet	...	Mathieu
Marie Susini	...	Mathieu's wife
Liliane Princet	...	Schoolteacher
Suzanne Huguenin	...	Undertaker
Marine Trichet	...	Luisa
Raymonde Chabrun	...	Grocery Shop-owner

Runtime:

78 min | USA:90 min (VHS version) | Portugal:82 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 | West Germany:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:16

Company:

Argos Films

Trivia:

It was rumored for years that the trailer for this film was by Jean-Luc Godard, and he has recently confirmed this by programming it in a self-curated retrospective of his work. The trailer is virtually a miniature essay on (or subversion of) the film, jarringly intercutting excerpts from it with a written commentary that calls it "Christian and sadistic".

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Zum Beispiel Bresson (1967)

Soundtrack:

Magnificat

The Face of Nadine Nortier

Just like I remembered. The face of Nadine Nortier has not changed. The unbelievable "Mouchette" in this unforgettable Robert Bresson masterpiece. I hadn't seen the film since I was a teen ager. I saw it again last night and as if by magic it felt more contemporary today than it did then and then, let me tell you, it felt pretty real in its own rigorous lyrical style. What a shockingly wonderful effect a film like this could have on teen agers today. To stay with a character who takes us with nothing more than her naked truth through a landscape of absolute desolation. Her innocence intact, in spite of the outrage. Her ultimate act as breathtaking as anything we have ever seen on the screen, before or since. I tried to show the film to a group of twentysomethings, all of them walked away within the first fifteen minutes. All except one, a boy of 21, he had escaped Bosnia with his brother a few short years ago. As the film ended I looked at him. He was silent. He spoke without looking at me "can I see it again?" That's at the center of the experience that provides this film. "Mouchette" is meant for everyone, but it'll touch only some.