Robert Bresson: A Spiritual Style in Film [Hardcover]

Joseph Cunneen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0826414710 | ISBN-13: 978-0826414717

Although Robert Bresson is widely regarded by movie critics and students of the cinema as one of the greatest directors of the twentieth century, his films are largely unknown and are rarely shown in the English-speaking world. Nonetheless, Susan Sontag has called Bresson "the master of the reflective mode in film."The present book, which introduces Bresson's movies to a broader audience, assesses thirteen of his most significant films in the context of detailed plot summaries, vivid descriptions of characters and settings, and perceptive, jargon-free insights into the director's execution, intention, and technique. Among these films, made between 1943 and 1983, are Diary of a Country Priest, A Man Escaped, Pickpocket, The Trial of Joan of Arc, Au Hasard Balthasar, Mouchette, A Gentle Woman, Lancelot of the Lake, and L'Argent. Each of these films in its own way illustrates what Joseph Cunneen calls Bresson's "spiritual style." Though not necessarily focused on the explicitly religious, they illustrate two complementary principles: on the negative side, the rejection of what the director called "photographed theater" with its artificiality and dependence on celebrity performers. On the more positive side, as Bresson himself expressed it, the conviction that, "The supernatural is only the real rendered more precise; real things seen close up." Being equally adamant about both these principles, he often had difficulty getting financial backing, and this in turn resulted in his having to abandon his long-cherished hope of making a movie on the biblical book of Genesis. Nevertheless, because of these firmly held principles, Martin Scorsese suggested that a young filmmaker should ask: "Is it as tough as Bresson?... Is [meaning] as ruthlessly pared down, as direct, as unflinching in its gaze at aspects of life I might feel more comfortable ignoring?"Questions that every reader of this book and every viewer of Bresson's films will also ask.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“…an excellent guide for those unschooled in film… Reading this book has helped me understand the film better than if I had gone back to the theater ten times….is written in a beautiful style which looks at life and its hard realities and looks at them close enough to see the supernatural.” –Sheila McCarthy, The Catholic Worker, March-April, 2004

“Mr. Cunneen provides an excellent summary of the plot of each of Bresson’s films… Mr. Cunneen probes deeply and at length, but not dryly…. This book inspires its readers to want to see the films for themselves, the final test of any book about film…. Mr. Cunneen is a good guide for discerning things of the spirit in film.” –Visual Parables, Summer 2004

"Bresson is to French film what Dostoevsky is to the Russian novel and Mozart to German music."
—Jean-Luc Godard

"Bresson stands as an ideal of simplicity.... I find him very close to the oriental concept of Zen: depth within narrowly defined limits."
—Andrei Tarkovsky

"With tightly-written, jargon-free prose and an abundance of critical insights, film critic Cunneen reivews Bresson's oeuvre, finding meaning in his subject's view that life can be demanding or tragic but is ultimately redeemed by our common vulnerability and humanity....this is a worthy effort to make the work of an uncompromising artist accessible to general audiences and a new generation of film students. Recommended for large public and academic film collections."
—Steven Rees, Library Journal, April 15, 2003

"Anyone who cherishes the connection between faith and film needs to revisit Bresson and take Cunneen along as a spiritual companion. Cunneen's Catholic sensibility and previous studies...show him to be a trustworthy and knowledgeable guide. And because watching Bresson's films unaccompanied can be difficult and at times confusing, Cunneen's book is just what the serious film student needs for the journey."
—James M. Wall, Christian Century, July 26, 2003

"Cunneen clearly nails the spiritual effect of his subject's style. Though Bresson won't promise happy endings, 'his austere, clear-eyed cinematography fosters a deep understanding of the grandeur and pain of our common humanity.' Recommended." -M. Yaco

Joseph Cunneen has provided a work of serious film criticism that takes the reader beyond the film under discussion…Even more, Cunneen has provided a unique perspective for a theological reflection on art and culture in a universe scarred by sin, touched by grace." -Richard A. Blake, America (America: The National Catholic Weekly )

About the Author

Joseph Cunneen is co-founder of the international quarterly Cross Currents where he was also editor for nearly half a century. He has published studies on the film makers Kieslowski, Rohmer, Tarkovsky, and Bresson, and has contributed articles on religious and cultural issues to such journals as America, Commonweal, Esprit, Midstream, and The Nation.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Continuum (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826414710
• ISBN-13: 978-0826414717
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,857,596 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Bresson Primer but Spiritual Style?, June 16, 2003

By 

humanum777 "humanum777" (Chicago, IL, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Robert Bresson: A Spiritual Style in Film (Hardcover)

Cunneen's "Robert Bresson: A Spiritual Style in Film" is a good survey of Bresson's filmography. The subheading, however, "A Spiritual Style in Film," is a bit of an an overpromise as Cunneen does not explain what encompasses his understanding of "style" and subordinates the discussion of the truly cinematic, stylistic considerations such as cinematography, editing, lighting in favor of the more literary bases of film such as plot construction and narrative. Moreover, Cunneen borrows heavily from existing work on Bresson and actually devotes more space to summarizing Bresson's body of work rather than the actual analysis of Bresson's unique stylistic signature. A title that reads something like "Bresson: An Introduction" might have been more realistic. Paul Schrader's "A Transcendental Style in Film" offers a more insightful analysis of Bresson's style that lives up to its title. Unlike Cunneen's book, it is, primarily, about cinematic style, not just content analysis.

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Definitive Brisson, May 3, 2003

By 

shelley schiff (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Robert Bresson: A Spiritual Style in Film (Hardcover)

"Robert Bresson: A Spiritual Style in Film" by Joseph Cunneen is a much-needed introduction to a master film director. Cunneen, long-time movie critic for the "National Catholic Reporter," approaches Bresson's career in a way that easily explains the director's distinctive approach to cinematography.

Bresson rejects the artificiality and dependence of "photographed theater" with it's reliance of star performers and instead emphasizes an austere, elliptical approach to narrative, making a masterful use of natural sound.
Cunneen explores all 13 films of Bresson in chronological order, clarifying the development of Bresson's technique while making clear that his "spiritual style" is why Susan Sontag called him "the master of the reflective model in film."
Easily understood by the novice as well as the movie buff, this book should send readers hunting down Bresson movies in the better video stores, and begging local universities to stage retrospectives of Bresson's entire oeuvre.