L’argent,
written and directed by Robert Bresson, based on the short story by Leo Tolstoy
Eight out
of 10
This film
has benefited form an extraordinary positive critical acclaim – it has a
Metascore of 95 out of 100, which is phenomenal.
It has also
been nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival and this is nec
plus ultra.
The Cannes
Festival prize confirms the value of a film much more than the Oscars or Golden
Globes. At least in the opinion of the under signed.
Robert Bresson,
the writer – director of the motion picture has won, tied with Andrei
Tarkovsky, the title of Best Director at the prestigious cinematic celebration.
Last but
not least, L’argent is included on The New York Times ‘Best 1,000 Movies Ever
Made List:
Nonetheless,
the film that has made critics ecstatic and exuberant can leave an ordinary
viewer less than elated.
First, one
could object to the manner of acting, which seems to be outré, detached, artificial.
Most likely,
it is intended to be exaggerated, probably the idea is to abandon the pretense
that this is acting with the notion to make the audience believe the characters
are “real people”
By underlining,
the artificiality the cast – most probably instructed by the director – is meant
to make a point.
Only in the
case of this cinephile, it works backwards.
Instead of
appreciating the plot, the idea after all comes from one of the greatest
authors, Tolstoy, it puzzles and annoys.
To begin
with, a young man pays at a shop with banknotes and one of them is a false one.
When they
discover the fake, instead of taking the trouble to alert the authorities, the
manager and owner of the shop just pass it on.
A young man
unsuspectingly takes the false notes and when he tries to pay in his turn, the
police take him into custody.
He explains
he is innocent; he had no idea about the forgery and takes a detective to the
shop where he was given the false notes.
Again, this
is a chance for redemption of some kind, but instead of repentance, the clerk
pretends not to know the accused.
Eventually,
the suspect who has had only to lose from this incident, losing his job, is sent
to prison.
As we very
well know from research on this matter, life in prison makes things worse and once
out on the street, former inmates use what they have learned in jail and that is
how to become repeat offenders.
In the case
of the protagonist, it would not be repeat; if we consider that his first alleged
offence was in fact a case of injustice.
Once inside
he is provoked into conflict and then he ends up in the most terrible of
situations.
The message
– better said art of the message – being that we can all fall from grace, given
the circumstances.
Stan Lee, creator
of Superheroes, has said, when asked what the ultimate super force is is…
Luck!
If you have
it, everything works.
In the case
of the unfortunate hero of this story, it was an extreme case of bad luck,
which has calamitous consequences.
Charged with
something he has not done to begin with, he ends up committing atrocities.
Significance
then might be that this was a rotten individual anyway, if not for the Forged
Money, he would still show his true colors, sooner or later…
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