About

“Today, I believe that the entire film must be music: a music, the music of daily life. I surprised myself with L’Argent – when I saw it projected during the edit, I perceived only the sounds. I did not perceive the images passing before my eyes.” – Robert Bresson

Robert Bresson’s final film, L’Argent is a culmination of the cinematographic style he refined over half a century of filmmaking. It is hypnotic in its asceticism, boldly moving in its own singular rhythm as its tale of greed and destruction plays out.

After adapting Dostoevsky twice, Bresson here turns to another classic Russian author in Leo Tolstoy, whose novella ‘The Forged Coupon’ he transmutes to modern Paris. The film follows a counterfeit bill as moves from the pocket of a wealthy youth to the staff of a photography store and into the hands of an unsuspecting deliveryman. Its journey corrupts those it encounters, acting as a false god that leads the characters down a path of violence and despair. One of the director’s bleakest works, yet also among his most pure and unforgettable visions.

This screening is presented in partnership with Alliance Française de Brisbane.

M | Adult themes