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Pickpocket Details

1959 Certificate PG
  • Rated:
  • 70
  • from 1336 members

Inspired by Dostoevsky’s 'Crime and Punishment', Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket tells the story of Michel (Martin Lasalle), a solitary young man who embarks upon a life of petty theft. Plying his trade on the city streets, racetracks and Métro system of Paris, Michel hones his sleight-of-hand skills to perfection and becomes .. Read more

Starring Martin LaSalle, Marika Green, Pierre Leymarie
Director Robert Bresson
Genres Drama, World Cinema

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Pickpocket cover art

Pickpocket

Inspired by Dostoevsky’s 'Crime and Punishment', Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket tells the story of Michel (Martin Lasalle), a solitary young man who embarks upon a life of petty theft. Plying his trade on the city streets, racetracks and Métro system of Paris, Michel hones his sleight-of-hand skills to perfection and becomes consumed by his escalating addiction. But his activities alienate him from his few friends, while attracting the attention of a police inspector and a professional criminal (Kassagi), who recruits him into his band of thieves. Bresson’s use of non-professional actors, pared-down cinematic style and meticulously choreographed scenes of audacious robberies lend the film a remarkable and thrilling sense of authenticity. Emotionally restrained yet ultimately spiritually moving, many critics consider Pickpocket to be Bresson’s masterpiece.

Starring Martin LaSalle, Marika Green, Pierre Leymarie
Director Robert Bresson
Studio ARTIFICIAL EYE
Run time DVD: 1 hr 13 mins
Certificate Certificate PG
Genres Drama, World Cinema
Language DVD: French
Subtitles DVD: English
Released DVD: 25 Apr 2005
Production year: 1959
Format DVD

Pickpocket (1959)

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  • Critics' reviews (5) of Pickpocket

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  • 4 stars out of 5

    A mesmeric sequence in which a young thief learns the tricks of the trade from a master pickpocket is the highlight of this exceptional study by Robert Bresson of obsession, desperation and guilt. Inspired by Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, the film follows a theme used several times by Bresson as lonely individuals lay bare their souls in the midst of personal torment. Martin Lassalle gives a performance of chilling restraint as the possessed “dip”, but it is Bresson's control over his cast, the Parisian locations and the austere black-and-white imagery that makes this extraordinary film so compelling.

    • Radio Times
    • Posted 29 Jan 2006

  • Released in the same year as Godards Breathless (1959) and filmed on the same sun-dappled Parisian streets,... read more on Time Out

    • Time Out
    • Posted 04 Nov 2008

  • Most helpful member's review of Pickpocket

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  • 14 out of 14 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    An emotional roller-coaster

    When a film is by common consent listed as one of the greatest 100 films of all time, it must have something going for it. For those of you even looking to rent the film, I'm certain you already know where to look for far more eloquent critique of the film than I can ever hope to deliver. This synopsis therefore is my attempt at the purely emotional gut wrenching grip that the film excercised upon yours truly. I first saw this film back in 1959 when I was no more than a lad of 17 attending school. It was showing (for those of you old enough to remember) at one of the old chain of Classic cinemas. To this day, I can't even begin to rationalize what drove this soul night after night to catch a six mile bus ride to Hendon to see the film six nights in a row and feel just as much emotionally drained after the 6th screening as I was after the first. It's that sort of film and time hasn't dulled the edge. Ask anyone who's seen it.

      • FL from UK
      • Posted 30 May 2005 18:27

  • Most recent members' review of Pickpocket

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  • 7 out of 7 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 2 stars

    Bonus disc for serious cinephiles only

    This is bonus disc that accompanies Bresson’s Pickpocket. It is a nice addition when you purchase the DVD, but is probably not worth renting on its own. The main item here is Babette Mangolte’s hour-long Les Modeles de Pickpocket in which Mangolte interviews, forty years later, three key non-professional actors (or ‘models’) used in the film: Pierre Leymarie, Marika Green and Martin Lasalle. A promising subject, but the film is just okay. The interviews are only mildly interesting, and Mangolte’s attempt to give the piece a Bressonian feel is betrayed by the cheap look of the video image. (The allure of the Bressonian image is met here with its antithesis: an uninviting surface that keeps us at a remove.)

    Other bonus features includes a Q&A after a screening of the film with two French filmmakers, Jean-Pierre Ameris and Paul Vecciali, and Green; and an interview on French television with Bresson circa 1959. They are enjoyable but brief (13 minutes and 6 minutes, respectively).

      • saishigo from London
      • Posted 18 Jun 2005 17:16

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Rating breakdown

1,336 Member ratings
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244
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220
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77
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45
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25

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      • Inspired by Dostoevsky’s 'Crime and Punishment', Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket tells the story of Michel (Martin Lasalle), a solitary young man who embarks upon a life of petty theft. Plying his trade ...