Pickpocket tells the story of a young man who hones his skills at petty thievery simply for the thrill, judging from his ragged suits and barren and modest Paris apartment. Telling his story through narration and entries in his journal, we learn about how he gets in with a gang of pickpockets and his eventual downfall, while he neglects his dying mother and the woman he loves. The film is lovingly and carefully created by Robert Bresson, of the seminal members of The French New Wave movement of the 1960s. Take the opening scene with the lead character at a racetrack. Filmed with precision, we see him study his mark, a female onlooker, and take his place behind her as she watches the race. In an extended shot that seems abnormal for a film, we wait along with him as he waits for the perfect moment to pop the button on her purse, reach inside, and relieve her of her winnings. The movie, in addition to being carefully directed, takes a basic plot and adds existential elements to it. Pickpocket has been extremely influential to subsequent filmmakers and the final and penultimate scenes are highly memorable.
Entertainment Magazine
Pickpocket tells the story of a young man who hones his skills at petty thievery simply for the thrill, judging from his ragged suits and barren and modest Paris apartment. Telling his story through narration and entries in his journal, we learn about how he gets in with a gang of pickpockets and his eventual downfall, while he neglects his dying mother and the woman he loves. The film is lovingly and carefully created by Robert Bresson, of the seminal members of The French New Wave movement of the 1960s. Take the opening scene with the lead character at a racetrack. Filmed with precision, we see him study his mark, a female onlooker, and take his place behind her as she watches the race. In an extended shot that seems abnormal for a film, we wait along with him as he waits for the perfect moment to pop the button on her purse, reach inside, and relieve her of her winnings. The movie, in addition to being carefully directed, takes a basic plot and adds existential elements to it. Pickpocket has been extremely influential to subsequent filmmakers and the final and penultimate scenes are highly memorable.
