L'Argent (1983)

The Root of All Evil

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy L'Argent on DVD.

L'Argent (1983) was Robert Bresson's final film. Based loosely on a story by Leo Tolstoy, this masterpiece follows a forged bank note. The upper-class perpetrators pass it in a Paris shop and get away with it, while the innocent Yvon (Christian Patey) who takes the blame winds up on a path to crime and self-destruction. Strangely, the angry Yvon is the most human character in the film, the one least corrupted by money. Many believe that Bresson grew more difficult and pessimistic toward the end of his career, as he transitioned into color films and began working with younger actors. But L'Argent has moments of great beauty. As others have pointed out, it does not feel like the work of a man in his 80s.

DVD Details: I had the chance to see L'Argent a second time on New Yorker's excellent new DVD, and I liked it even more. It sometimes takes a bit of extra work to get used to Bresson's unique presentation, with the actors stripped of all excess emotion, moving and speaking almost robotically. As critic Kent Jones says on the commentary track, these performances are meant to suggest and represent certain behaviors, even if we don't see them acted out verbatim. Jones's knowledgable yet humble commentary track is very informative and does not use that lecturer's drone that can get so boring so quickly. Other extras include two interviews with Bresson, one six minutes and the other 12 minutes, both from the 1983 Cannes Film Festival. Writer Marguerite Duras (Hiroshima Mon Amour) speaks about her adoration for Bresson (for only about 90 seconds), and there's a 30-second theatrical trailer that almost entirely misses the point of the film. English subtitles are optional. All in all, this is one of my favorite discs of 2005.

Starring: Christian Patey, Caroline Lang, Sylvie van den Elsen, Michel Briguet
Written by: Robert Bresson, based on a story by Leo Tolstoy
Directed by: Robert Bresson
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Language: French with English subtitles
Running Time: 81 minutes
Date: May 21, 2005