★ 9 / 10
Robert Bresson's Mouchette is a stark and austere
dave s
Robert Bresson's Mouchette is a stark and austere film about the randomness of misfortune. Mouchette (Nadine Nortier) is a young teenager living in abject…
Robert Bresson's Mouchette is a stark and austere film about the randomness of misfortune. Mouchette (Nadine Nortier) is a young teenager living in abject poverty in a small French village. Due to her mother's terminal illness and her father's alcoholism, she is the sole provider for her infant brother. Tormented by fellow students and her teacher, life outside of her home is equally difficult. Nothing Mouchette has done warrants the difficulties life has presented to her – she is simply an accepting victim of her fate, unaware of any potential alternatives. As always, Bresson is objective in presenting the story, allowing the audience to draw its own conclusions. It is a heartbreaking and tragic story of desperation and the struggle to survive, a bleak but somehow rewarding, and possibly even inspiring, cinematic experience.
★ 8 / 10
Quietly devastating and almost overbearingly bleak, Mouchette does
jacob c
Quietly devastating and almost overbearingly bleak, Mouchette does boast impressive cinematography, affecting performances, and depth.
Quietly devastating and almost overbearingly bleak, Mouchette does boast impressive cinematography, affecting performances, and depth.
★ 8 / 10
Colour me impressed for the first time by
R T
Colour me impressed for the first time by a Bresson film! Finally, it's safe to say his minimalistic approach works here for me for the most part. A story with…
Colour me impressed for the first time by a Bresson film! Finally, it's safe to say his minimalistic approach works here for me for the most part. A story with a misanthropic world view of a girl that bears the indifference and abasement with her mouth shut most of the time is definitely one that suits if not even demands such method. In the other two films I've seen by him, Pickpocket and L'Argent, scenes showing physical attack or intense emotions — especially in the former — came across as laughably robotic whereas here similar scenes further accentuate the apathy and lack of compassion plaguing Mouchette's village. The striking austerity apparent in some of the abrupt cuts accompanied with economical compositions and extreme close-ups here implemented to bring far more effective results. By suddenly moving from a scene to another, the contrast stemming from such jarring succession hits harder than usual, and by showcasing the subject solely in a frame, every revelation, however subtle it is, is highlighted. This is not saying the film doesn't have moments that had me yawning every now and then, like pretty much every scene has to do with the storyline revolving around Luisa.
Even before the opening titles show on screen, Mouchette starts with a woman in tears, lamenting her ill-fated children. No wonder why she does so. Mouchette lives in a cruel, merciless world of bootleggers and poachers. She's humiliated in school by her teacher for refusing to sing or singing off-note while being laughed at by her classmates she's an outcast among them. The only sign of recognition from her alcoholic father is when she's done something wrong and chastised for it. Her bedridden mother has no one but her to do all the housework and care for her and the baby. But who cares, nay, acknowledges her existence. Even when she gets back at her classmates while low-key trying to get their attention, they just run away from her without showing a hint of either annoyance or regard. She's simply a persona non grata in her village.
spoilery points and vague allusions to the ending!
Early on, we see a bird trapped in a snare not long before it's set free. Whilst this could be seen as a glimmer of hope in the sense it's a foreshadowing metaphor for how things end up for Mouchette, it turns out to be a quite misleading one. Moreover, in a considerably cheerful scene, which are a rarity in this film, we see Mouchette riding a dodgem, bumping into a car of a young man in some sort of filtration, only to be slapped on the face twice by her father a minute or so later. Aside from how it ends, the way this joyous scene of dodgems stands out in such a film shrouded with misery had it hewn in my head throughout the film's runtime, only to recall it later with a similarly-edited scene at the end of rabbits hopelessly dodging the poachers' bullets as our girl witnesses such brutality in mixed emotions of rage and mourning. But this time there are no longer tears rushing out over her cheeks. This was her witnessing an affirmation of her fateful destiny led by ruthlessness and rejection, resulting in confused emotions and unfocused rebellion, and ending with killing innocence and purity. Disregarding the drastically different themes, I couldn't help recalling Jack from Lord of the Flies. Weeping would've been a far more hopeful note to end on, though.
P.S. Nadine Nortier delivered one of the best child performances ever in my book.
89%
TOMATOMETER
· 28 reviews
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AUDIENCE
· 2.5K ratings
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