Bresson
I saw Bresson’s Au hasard Balthasar in a Parisian cinema in 1966 at the age of 18. Even though my French was moderate and the film had no sub-titles, it made an enduring impression. I then came across the marvellous essay by Amédée Ayfre, ‘The universe of Robert Bresson’ which was included in the compilation ‘The Films of Robert Bresson’ published in the Movie Paperback series. Another starting-point was the ‘Dictionnaire des Cinéastes’ and ‘Dictionnaire des Films’ edited by Georges Sadoul in which I found the explicit link made between Pickpocket and Dostoevsky’s 'Crime and Punishment'. And I was only twenty when I came across the important interview with Bresson by Godard and Delahaye published by ‘Cahiers du Cinéma’ in 1966. It was only later that I encountered Bresson’s statement of aesthetics in ‘Notes on the Cinematographer’ and then the interview filmed in 1965 by Francis Weyergans, Bresson ni vu ni connu.
I have been making periodic encounters with the films ever since that first viewing of Au hasard Balthasar, some of the fruit of which appeared in an article for the journal ‘Theology’ [pdf link] and then more fully in ‘The Filmgoer’s Guide to God’ . Following the publication of the book, Jonathan Hourigan got in touch with me to suggest an interview, and the result of that can now be found on http://www.mastersofcinema.org/bresson/Words/Cawkwell_I.html plus versions of brief talks I gave on L’Argent [http://www.mastersofcinema.org/bresson/Words/LARGENT_Intro.html] and on A Man Escaped [http://www.mastersofcinema.org/bresson/Words/Cawkwell_Oct07_Condamne-intro.html].
I saw four of the films again in the recent (2007) Bresson season at the National Film Theatre in London, and was struck again by their superlative qualities of story-telling.