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Robert Bresson’s phrase "Some Words from Robert Bresson" October 1957, "Cinema Manual" ** Cahiers du cinema
Cannes. On Tuesday, May 14, 1957, Robert Bresson’s "Death Convict Escape" was selected for the film festival and is the only French film except for " He Who Must Die ." The screening was scheduled for one morning (rather than night) because the organizers were hostile to this masterpiece. It eventually won the best director award.
At exactly 11 a.m. the next day, Robert Bresson agreed to meet with reporters. He was against Rudolphe-Maurice Arlaud, André Bazin, Louis Marcorelles, Denis Marion, George The answers of Georges Sadoul, Jean-Louis Tallenay, François Truffaut, and others turned into a declaration of faith. It is so precious to readers, because they know that the director of "Women of the Breuner Woods" rarely shares his thoughts on his work, even though it is indispensable for a complete understanding of the work.
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"Cinema Manual": "Death Convict Escape" seems to be a commercial success.
Robert Bresson: I guess so. This is to recognize who your audience is. When I think about the audience, I think about the real public, the general public—everyone in fact. I firmly believe in the excellent qualities of each individual who makes up this audience group. They are more capable of understanding even subtle things than we often imagine. We can aim at the lowest level, and people sometimes do that, but if we aim at the highest level, we can have a huge impact.
"Handbook": Which one of you was moved by the story itself (in the way it was told), or what would you be able to express using this story as an excuse?
Bresson: Do you know... You are asking something I never asked myself... I still remember when I read this story in the newspaper. It is a very accurate and very technical story about jailbreaking. *** I remember the reading and the way it touched me with beautiful things. Its writing tone is extremely simple and precise; even the narrative structure is wonderful. It has a magnificence. At the same time, there is a sense of indifference that blends with its simplicity, making it seem like it was written with heart, which is very rare. As for the topic, I must first find a producer who can satisfy the cooperation and satisfy myself, and I must find something close to the truth-because if I start with something false, I have to correct it and then correct it. Reaching the truth is very difficult-so I think this story has all the necessary qualities.
"Handbook": Isn't "Death Row Prison Escape" a documentary nature?
Bresson: Absolutely. I maintain a tone of being close to the documentary, in order to maintain a sense of reality all the time.
"Handbook": For this reason, do you show a certain degree of hostility towards professional actors?
Bresson: That's not hostile at all-don't think so. I admire some great theater actors. Please believe me when I say that I have caused a lot of trouble because of not using actors. I didn't do this to make myself happy. However, I believe in the language of film. I believe that film has its own language and its own means. It should not try to express itself through dramatic means (such as imitation, pronunciation control, behavior).
Movies must not express themselves through images, but through the relationship between images. The two are completely different. Just as a painter does not express himself through color, but through the relationship between colors. A piece of blue is itself a piece of blue, but if it appears next to a piece of green, or a piece of red, or a piece of yellow, it is no longer the previous blue: it changes. There is one image first, and then another, and they have relative value: that is, the first image is neutral, but when the other image is also present, it vibrates and its vitality bursts out. This is not only the life of the story, the life of the character-this is the life of the film. Starting with the moment when the image begins to vibrate, we made a movie.
Because of this, I have no hostility towards actors. On the contrary, if I could, I would use actors I admire. However, they happen to be less “not acting” and less natural and sincere than people on the street—— Although there are a large number of people in life who are always performing, especially children. But most importantly, even though my system makes things difficult, it allows me to find similarities between characters and performers—not in appearance, but in morality—so from From the beginning of the filming, the performer only needs to be himself.
"Manual": I think Mr. Bresson said it is very true, because nowadays, movies are changing themselves in the direction of stage drama; in other words, we applaud the actors for even more amazing moments, such as being elevated. The tone of voice, such as the image of being elevated. And if "Death Prison Escape" received a lot of applause at the end, it was because it was the only one that did not ask for applause at all during the screening.
Bresson: Yes, there is a trend to turn movies into film versions of drama, even though it has no dramatic brilliance, because there is no {actor's} body present, no flesh and blood. Some are just shadows, shadows of drama.
"Handbook": Don't you think that in order to be an actor, a series of certain characteristics are required, so all actors begin to become similar to each other, and in the end we can only look for "roles" in our lives?
Bresson: I agree. An actor should stop being himself and become another person. So a strange thing happened: this machine, the camera, captures everything. In other words, it captures him as his own actor and at the same time captures him as someone else. If we look closely, we can see some false things; the results are not real. In a movie, the real thing can produce an effect, an extremely profound effect, which can come from the most subtle things, from the most subtle places.
"Handbook": Isn't this because some directors are looking for the kind of roles we see every day, and they don't exist in the world of professional actors, so they tend to use amateurs?
Bresson: Of course it is. However, what makes this almost impossible is that the film has flourished today: it is a system, has its own team of actors, and it happens to be an international team. On a global scale, we now use those seven faces in all films.
"Handbook": Didn't you find that all your characters are similar to you?
Bresson: What do you mean they are like me? Everyone is unique. The extent to which my role resembles me is limited to the way I see it and the way I feel it. I believe that this is the way an author can show his personality. What else can he do?
However, I believe you all treat the movie as a spectacle, like a drama. Movies are not spectacles. It is a kind of writing, a kind of writing you try to express yourself according to it. There are huge difficulties in it, because there are so many things between you and the screen. You need to move many mountains, many mountains-you do your best to achieve this kind of self-expression. But you can't change the actor's personal self. You can't get a real expression through creation. When you catch it, it's worthy of appreciation. Even if it's an emoji you didn't even think about it, it should be so. You must let the performer surprise you; then you will get something extraordinary. But when you use professional actors, there are no surprises at all. Because of this, the production company hires them.
The beauty of a film, what I am after, is essentially an advancement towards the unknown. The audience must perceive that I am heading for the unknown, which means that I don't know in advance what will happen. The reason I don’t know is because I don’t know my performers fundamentally—even though I have tried my best to think deeply when choosing them. It is amazing to discover a person bit by bit during the production of a film, instead of knowing what that person will be like in advance... In this way, in the end, all you get is the false personality of the actor. A film needs this feeling of discovering a person: a profound discovery. In any case, all we need to work together is just the nature of a person. Not an actor. Must return to nature. You have to look closely, you have to find different ways to look more closely.
"Handbook": So did you finally make these amateurs want to become professionals?
Bresson: No, on the contrary. I made them desire not to be actors.
"Handbook": Mr. Leterrier, did you feel that you could fully express yourself in the process of filming "Death Convict Escape", or did you feel that you were completely manipulated by someone?
François Le Drier: I have a feeling of being restricted and strictly guided.
Bresson: It is not difficult to understand... It is worthless to think that the way to reality is through the path of reality. I try to reach reality through a method that you can call it a mechanical method if you want. Le Drier's feeling of being manipulated by me actually comes from this mechanical method, which is necessary to reach a more real situation.
Manual: Are you in a sense trying to let François Le Drier reveal himself to yourself through your film, or are you integrating him into the film according to your ideas?
Bresson: Both... In other words, I created him like this. However, before filming, we met every day; we talked, and I became convinced that I was right—that is, I actually found the character I was looking for from him. This is very time consuming. This decision was made not in the office, nor through a phone call to a stranger, but through a lot of time together.
"Handbook": This leads me to the next question: How much time did you spend in the early and filming stages of "Death Convict Escape"?
Bresson: Quite fast. It took me about six months to think about it; then it took me two and a half or three months to finish the dialogue and I couldn't remember. It took about the same length of time to shoot—that is, about two and a half months—and then it took three months to edit. This is fast for me.
"Handbook": Regarding the mysticism that many of us see in the film: did you place it deliberately, or did it appear spontaneously and without your control, or did you think it did not exist?
Bresson: I don't understand what you mean by mysticism. What you call mysticism must come from my feelings in prison-as the subtitle of the film ("The Wind Blows With Meaning") implies, it is the presence of several extraordinary streams, something, or The presence of a so-and-so-whatever you call it-it makes people feel as if there is a hand controlling everything. Prisoners are very sensitive to this unique atmosphere. By the way, this is not a dramatic atmosphere at all: it exists on a much higher level. There is no superficial drama in prison: you hear people being shot, but you don't react to them obviously. All drama is internal.
Of course, from a material point of view, I tried to depict this unique atmosphere through the interactions between prisoners: after talking three words, then a life suddenly changed. This is the case in prison.
"Handbook": Why, we have a little understanding of where each character comes from and their relationship with the outside world, except for the protagonist, who seems to have no contact with the outside world?
Bresson: The reason why he doesn't have these connections is because he has us. In fact, the reason why we feel with him is because, fundamentally, we don’t know him better than he knows himself.
"Handbook": Is this the reason why you didn't include the things that happened after the escape from the original story in the film?
Bresson: Oh, no! That is purely a composition decision. It must be circular-where it starts and ends where it is. Otherwise, we will continue to infinity and talk about Devigny's adventures in Algeria. However, there are requirements for composition, such as a rhythm that needs to be followed, such as a moment that I must hold back. When a carpenter makes a table, his final step is to trim: the legs of the table will be trimmed to this position. Everything is structured in a certain way and cannot be changed.
We have to make the film the way we write it—that is, to invoke our feelings. The difficulty in making a movie is to find a way to express yourself so that your feelings can be felt by others, instead of creating a story. If you want, it can be said to be a spectacle, no matter its composition and design are exquisite. Still clumsy.
"Handbook": Your four films are all adapted from existing works. However, does the origin matter?
Bresson: Only in this sense is important: it helps us authors to understand what will be developed in advance, rather than plunge into the {original one project} long process, which is too long for me, and There is no guarantee. This is a kind of laziness.
"Handbook": Do you feel the need to create a work that is completely yours over time?
Bresson: The film I am going to make was written by myself, and so is the one immediately after it.
"Manual": {This film} One thing that makes a deep impression is that the sentinel's death is invisible—that is, omitted—which can be seen as an effect. Did you handle this because you refused to shoot death? We also cannot see the death of the country priest. Or is it because it is secondary to jailbreaking?
Bresson: I cannot answer this question directly. I can only say that if I showed the death of the sentinel, the film would immediately become out of touch with what it was doing at that moment. Once it's time to decide what to show and what not to show—especially what not to show—you can't take a wrong step. These decisions stem from the way I see and feel.
"Handbook": But, don't you have a sense of disgust for shooting death?
Bresson: The theme of the film does not exist in the hands of the strangled people. It's elsewhere, in the passing flow.
"Handbook": Do you want to have followers? Do you want a "Bresson School" to appear?
Bresson: No. A school, absolutely not. However, I hope I am not the only one looking for a way out in the forest. This will be a good thing for me, because being alone is difficult. I cannot defend myself...especially because I am not a fighter.
"Handbook": However, those films that try to match your films without imitating them are unsuccessful, because of the countless complexity-this situation probably worries you more than other bad films currently produced. ?
Bresson: Yes... yes, no doubt.
"Handbook": Do you have friendships with other authors?
Bresson: Oh! I must say this is my fault because I don't watch their videos. But I really can't look at it; I can feel the crime they are committing, and I think it will make me an accomplice. This is not to say that these films are unattractive. The situation is the opposite. Every film has its own creations, but I personally cannot bear them. You know, what I really hope is not that people will make films the way I do, but that they can change the field so that films are no longer understood as filmed dramas. That's it.
"Handbook": Do you think every film is a failure?
Bresson: From the perspective of the dramas filmed, they are good. From the perspective of cinematography, they are a complete failure. ****
"Handbook": How do you evaluate Alfred Hitchcock (Alfred Hitchcock)?
Bresson: I haven't watched his videos.
"Handbook": Does watching Dreyer's films make you uncomfortable?
Bresson: I watched " Passion of Joan of Arc " two years ago . That being the case, yes, very uncomfortable. I know that in his time, this film set off a small revolution, but now, all I see from the actors are extremely bad facial distortions, and I want to escape.
Notes:
* The Wind Blows Where It Wants To (Le vent souffle où il veut in French) is the subtitle of the film. The words are in the New Testament of the Bible • John 3:8, and there are also lines in the corresponding paragraphs in the film.
Cahiers du cinéma ( Cahiers du cinéma ) French magazine published in 1951, founded by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, Joseph-Marie Rowe • Duka (Joseph-Marie Lo Duca), is the oldest film magazine in action in France. It has a personal and spiritual inheritance relationship with Revue du cinéma , which was published earlier .
** This article was reprinted in the "Cinema Manual" Special Issue No. 20 " Histoires de Cannes " ( Histoires de Cannes ), pp. 50-52, in April 1997 , under the title " Une marche vers l' inconnu ), this sentence also appeared in the interview.
Cannes (Cannes) is a coastal town in southeastern France. The Festival de Cannes (Festival de Cannes) began in 1946 and is one of the most watched film festivals in the world.
He Who Must Die ( Celui qui doit mourir in French ) (1957) is directed by Jules Dassin.
Rudolphe-Maurice Arlaud (Rodolphe-Maurice Arlaud, 1911-2002) Swiss screenwriter and writer.
André Bazin (André Bazin, 1918-1958) is a French film critic, theorist, and one of the founders of the "Cinema Manual". He is very famous and influential. A four-volume collection of essays "What is a movie?" "( Qu'est-ce que le cinéma? ) (1958-1962), expounds a kind of "objective realism" film aesthetics and advocates a kind of "negative montage".
Louis Marcorelles (Louis Marcorelles, 1922-1990) French journalist and film critic. He has been committed to promoting the British "direct cinema" (direct cinema) and "free cinema" (free cinema) trends.
Denis Marion (Denis Marion, 1906-2000), whose real name is Marcel Defosse (Marcel Defosse), is a Belgian writer, lawyer, film critic, and chess player.
Georges Sadoul (Georges Sadoul, 1904-1967) French journalist, film critic, and film historian. He was a surrealist and became a communist in 1932. Author of many film histories, film biography, film dictionaries.
Jean-Louis Tallenay is a reporter for the Film Manual, active in the 1950s.
François Truffaut (François Truffaut, 1932-1984) French film critic, director, and producer, one of the main players of the "French New Wave". With his semi-autobiographical feature film debut in 1959, Les Quatre Cents Coups ( Les Quatre Cents Coups ) won the Best Director Award in Cannes.
*** This film is adapted from a memoir published in Le Figaro littéraire ( Le Figaro littéraire ) in November 1954 by André Devigny.
François Leterrier (François Leterrier, 1929-) French director and actor, served in the Moroccan military. Entered the film industry by starring in the film, and later became a director.
The verb form of composition means composition, composition, composition, and composition.
André Devigny (André Devigny, 1916-1999) French soldier and resistance movement member.
****Bresson published Notes sur le cinématographe ( Notes sur le cinématographe ) in 1975 , Paris: Gallimard. In the book, he explained a unique meaning of the term "cinématographe" (English translated as cinematography, and Chinese generally translated as "film making art" or "film making technology"): it is an advanced function of film. An attempt to use images and sounds to create a new language; the usual cinéma (movie) is often used by him as the meaning of "filmed drama". Etymologically, it is composed of kìnema (movement) and gràphein (writing). It was first proposed by French inventor Léon Bouly in 1892 to name the device “Cinématographe Léon” invented and patented by him. Bouly".
Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) British director, became American citizen in 1955. He is famous for shooting thriller and suspense films and has a huge impact on future generations.
Carl Theodor Dreyer (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1889-1968) Danish director and screenwriter. Often hailed as one of the greatest directors in history.
The Passion of Joan of Arc ( Passion of Joan of Arc , French name La passion de Jeanne d'Arc ) (1928) was produced by Dreyer under the investment of France, and has always been highly praised.
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