MovieChat Forums > L'argent (1983) Discussion > A real mess - spoilers

A real mess - spoilers

posted 14 years ago by maestro-45
5 replies | jump to latest

This film is quite the mess. Runs in a dozen directions at once -- about one thing, then another, then another. The guy that gets fired and goes to prison -- does he blame his life of crime on having a few fake notes? Well I guess so. He goes from losing his job to being a getaway look out driver at a bank robbery, a quantum leap. Well who knows, someone said this was Bresson last film, if so, may have been odds and ends left over they needed to release with out his final touches. If you miss this turkey you will still have a good Thanksgiving.

[–] kairingler 14 years ago

i kinda liked this one,, because it's different than most of the schlock that Hollywood puts out,, this time different is better,, and that's why i like a good independant film now and then
are you going to bark all day little doggie,, or are you going to bite

[–] djsnafu23 14 years ago

I agrree with the OP. This was neither insightful nor entertaining. It definitely didn't seem to be aware of the notion of accountability, what happened to the kid in the first place was no big deal.

myspace.com/bankrupteuropeans

Coz lifes too short to listen to Madlib

[–] LCShackley 14 years ago

The wooden acting didn't endear this film to me.

All that kept me going was to see how the Tolstoy plot plays out in the lives of the various characters.

This also made me wonder about the French judicial system. How could Yvon be found guilty on such flimsy charges? Couldn't his employer have proved that he did deliveries of fuel to the photo shop? And where would an average Joe (or Jacques) come up with phony 500-franc notes? I know the filmmaker is trying to make a point about how "respectable" people are treated in comparison to the working class, but the stitch-up was pretty far-fetched.

[–] matheusmagalhaes10 11 years ago

The mechanical depiction of every single character in this film (the "good" ones, the "bad" ones) is completely intended.
It's not only the ones that were "corrupted" by money that act like this.

Your mother cook socks in hell!

[–] Bluedusk 9 years ago

I don't know how familiar you are with Bresson's cinema, but L'Argent is not the easiest one to watch, let alone to start with. I suggest Pickpocket or even Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne to discover Bresson's filmmaking.
As I understand it, Bresson's purpose in cinema is to show the invisible. In L'Argent, he shows us something that happens as we use money in our every day life without paying attention. Our careless use of money makes victims - invisible victims like Yvon.
Yvon can't be played be a professional actor : he's not a star, he doesn't shine in any way. He has to be portrayed as this guy you never talk to, this new neighbour you never noticed. A real person, a real personal tragedy. Not an act of performance by a famous superstar.
We may see Yvon and people like him in the corner of our eye, and remember vaguely, just from time to time, that, yes, there's this guy I don't know and don't care about.
Oh, he did these terrible things ! I didn't know.
I still don't care.
Well, Bresson made this film, maybe now I have no excuse for not caring about people like Yvon.