Mouchette (1967)

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:

Humiliation | Alibi | Policeman | Woods | Poacher

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: (At 45:00) The canteen changes position after being dropped.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Chacun son cinéma ou Ce petit coup au coeur quand la lumière s'éteint et que le film commence (2007)

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.