Mouchette [Criterion Collection]

Director: Robert Bresson Robert Bresson

Overview

"Robert Bresson directed this bleak tale of a fourteen-year-old girl growing up under horrific circumstances, which has been given a splendid presentation on DVD from the Criterion Collection. Mouchette has been transferred to disc in widescreen format; the image has been letterboxed at the film's original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.66:1 on conventional monitors, and has been enhanced for anamorphic play on 16x9 monitors. Ghislain Cloquet's cinematography is beautifully rendered here, with the disc featuring rich details and a gorgeous palate of gray tones. The audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Mono, and the nuances of the sound mix are very impressive indeed in this edition. The dialogue is in English, with optional subtitles in English. Bonus materials include Au Hasard Bresson, a documentary on the making of the film which was shot while Mouchette was in production; a segment from a French television news magazine which profiled Bresson during the making of Mouchette and features interviews with the director as well as actors Nadine Nortier and Jean-Claude Guilbert; a trailer for the picture edited by Jean-Luc Godard; and a commentary track from author and film historian Tony Rayns. The booklet also includes an insightful essay on Mouchette by Robert Polito. Criterion has earned a well-deserved reputation as the label that sets the standard for DVD quality, and Mouchette is another example of a superb film given kid gloves treatment by their staff; anyone interested in the work of one of the giants of French cinema will want this disc in their collection."

Product Details

Release Date:	01/15/2007
UPC:	0715515021425
Original Release:	1967
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[B&W, Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:21:00
Sales rank:	34,308

Special Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer; Audio commentary by renowned film scholar, critic, and festival programmer Tony Rayns; Au Hasard Bresson, a half-hour documentary about the director, including behind-the-scenes footage of Robert Bresson directing Mouchette; "Travelling," a segment from the cine-magazine TV series Cinéma, featuring on-set interviews with Bresson and actors Nadine Nortier and Jean-Claude Guilbert; Original theatrical trailer, cut by Jean-Luc Godard; New and improved English subtitle translation; Plus: A new essay by writer Robert Polito

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Nadine Nortier	Mouchette
Jean-Claude Guilbert	Arsene
Marie Cardinal	Actor,Mother
Jean Vimenet	Mathieu - gamekeeper
Marie Susini	Mathieu's wife
Liliane Princet	Schoolteacher
Raymonde Chabrun	Grocery Shop-owner
Suzanne Huguenin	Undertaker
Marie Trichet	Actor
Robert Bresson	Actor
Paul Hébert	Mouchette's Father
Paul Hebert	Actor
Jean Wiener	Composer

Technical Credits

Robert Bresson

Robert Bresson	Director,Screenwriter
Anatole Dauman	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Since his first feature film, 1943's Angels of the Streets, writer-director Robert Bresson specialized in making challenging, somber meditations on spiritual crises. Influenced by the work of Carl Theodor Dreyer (most obviously, The Passion of Joan of Arc), Bresson utilized amateur actors and a sparse visual approach. One of his most controversial, complex deliberations on life was 1967's Mouchette. Based on Georges Bernanos' novel, the film's grim portrayal of a displaced young girl prompted criticism as too bleak, especially compared to the French New Wave films of the era. Like Bresson's other masterpieces, A Man Escaped and Pickpocket, Mouchette is serious, aesthetic cinema at its most interesting and human. Bresson had worked from a Bernanos novel before, with his international breakthrough Diary of a Country Priest.