Fresh
Robert Bresson made this short electrifying study in 1959; it's one of his greatest and purest films, full of hushed transgression and sudden grace.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Pickpocket
To reach you at last, what a strange path I had to take.
1959 · 1h 15m · Not Rated
Crime, Drama
Directed by
Robert Bresson
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Pickpocket
Overview
Michel takes up pickpocketing on a lark and is arrested soon after. His mother dies shortly after his release, and despite the objections of his only friend, Jacques, and his mother's neighbor Jeanne, Michel teams up with a couple of petty thieves in order to improve his craft. With a police inspector keeping an eye on him, Michel also tries to get a straight job, but the temptation to steal is hard to resist.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
93%
Tomatometer
Fresh
Bresson choreographs the complex techniques of lifting wallets and watches with such precision that one seems to be watching a kind of surreptitious ballet.
David Denby, New Yorker
Fresh
French director Robert Bresson used his nonactors only once and orchestrated every gesture and glance; the performances that resulted are both mesmerizing and suffused with mystery.
Edward Karam, Entertainment Weekly
Fresh
Ultimately inexplicable, this concentrated, elliptical, economical movie is an experience that never loses its strangeness.
J. Hoberman, Village Voice
Fresh
Bresson films with a certain gravity, a directness.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
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