Mouchette (1967)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

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 | Alibi | Policeman | Woods | Humiliation

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

Directed by
Robert Bresson

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

Produced by
Anatole Dauman	....	producer

Original Music by
Jean Wiener

Cinematography by
Ghislain Cloquet

Film Editing by
Raymond Lamy

Production Design by
Pierre Guffroy

Set Decoration by
Pierre Guffroy

Costume Design by
Odette Le Barbenchon

Production Management
Michel Choquet	....	production manager
Philippe Dussart	....	production manager
René Pascal	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jacques Kébadian	....	assistant director
Mylène Van der Mersch	....	assistant director

Art Department
Jean Catala	....	props

Sound Department
Jacques Carrère	....	sound
Daniel Couteau	....	sound effects editor
Séverin Frankiel	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Bonis	....	assistant camera
Jean Chiabaut	....	camera operator
Emmanuel Machuel	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Odette Le Barbenchon	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Arlette Lalande	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Jean Drejac	....	conductor: score

Other crew
Françoise Reinberg	....	script girl (as Françoise Renberg)

Production Companies

• Argos Films
• Parc Film

Distributors

• Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC) (1967) (France) (theatrical) (as U.G.C.)
• Compagnie Française de Distribution Cinématographique (CFDC) (1967) (France) (theatrical) (as C.F.D.C.)
• Argos Films (worldwide) (sales)
• Cinema Ventures (1970) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Rialto Pictures (2003) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Criterion Collection, The (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Hen's Tooth Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Nouveau Entertainment Ltd. (1999) (UK) (VHS)
• Pioneer LDC (2000) (Japan) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2008) (Australia) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Les Chanteurs de St. Eustache  chorus: Monteverdi's Magrigal
• S.I.M.O.  auditorium
• Studios de Billancourt  auditorium (as Paris Studio Cinéma)

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".

Goofs:

Continuity: Two guys deliver cases of bottles and then have a drink. The younger man puts down an empty glass, but in the next shot, some remains in the glass.

Movie Connections:

References La règle du jeu (1939)

Soundtrack:

Magnificat

"compassionate", "unflinching", or just a snare?

It seems entirely appropriate that the film opens with the metaphor of birds being snared as this seems to apply not only to Mouchette's life, but to Bresson's approach to the viewer as well.

For what, after all, is the director attempting to do here? Are we really to regard this as an unblinking gaze into the life of an abused, outcast girl? If so, why is Bresson so intent on excluding even the most fleeting moments of joy (or at least humor) that enter even the darkest of lives (I believe a philosopher once said "alas, joy too must have its day")? It is pretty telling that the one scene involving happiness for Mouchette is the most monotonous and lifeless in the picture (the bumper cars). Not only are we not allowed to experience her joy, but Bresson is careful to distance us from the real experience of her pain as well. This is done by the use of "gestures" (particularly prominent in Bresson's later films) that "signify" a character's experience rather than giving us the person's individualized emotional and visceral reactions to events. Thus the assault on Mouchette is shown in a distant, almost pantomimed manner, her relationship with her father is suggested by dropping coins in his hand, a disembodied hand slapping her face, etc. So, are we really to identify with Mouchette, to feel her pain, seeing how her experience of life intersects with our own in only the most symbolic, muted fashion? Is this really "compassion" and is this really Bresson's purpose?

Or is Mouchette a figure that Bresson uses (and dehumanizes), as literally every character in the movie uses her, to achieve other purposes? In this case the selling of a particular view of the world. One which sees the world as a snare, both in its joy and its pain, that is "saved" only by the (symbolic) suffering of the innocent, and transcended/transformed only by death. In other words a viewpoint that that advocates looking beyond (or turning away from)life to find "transcendent" truths. A view based on judgement rather than acceptance. And if this is "the truth" why must so much of what we experience as truth (such as joy, intimacy, occasional feelings of "oneness" with the world) be so forcibly excluded? Are these all really illusions, the world simply a snare? And without acceptance of ALL of Mouchette's reality can she,or any of us, really be redeemed?

Yes, Bresson is a meticulous, incisive, and occasionally powerful filmaker. But is he really honest? Are there some TRUTHS that he can't face (and so desperately restricts his view). In MOUCHETTE we are a little more aware of the puppeteer's strings than usual. 7 out of 10.