About

“Hands are like people. They have their own intelligence, their own will. They take themselves (often) to places we don’t send them. They may lead the pickpocket where he does not want to go.” – Robert Bresson

Bresson’s austere and riveting tale of crime, punishment and redemption is one of cinema’s most influential masterpieces. The film follows the pickpocket Michael as he plies his trade with delicate precision in mid-century Paris. Gripping by growing avarice and a sense of existential superiority, Michel finds himself drifting deeper into a life of crime.

Bresson consulted with actual pickpockets to realise the subtle dance of theft, holding the meticulous choreography of their movements in contrast to the empty listlessness that otherwise pervades the life of Michael. Frequently cited as being among Bresson’s most exquisite accomplishments, Paul Schrader (who has reworked Pickpocket’s ending in no less than five of his own films) once described it as being simply “as close to perfect as there can be”.

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

M | Adult themes