Born as a painter, Robert Bresson turned to film at the age of 30, and 1950's "Diary of a Country Priest" was the first film he directed after the war. The pre-war "Public Affairs", "Angel of Sin" and "The Lady of the Bleigne Forest" failed to get rid of the dramatic demands of occupation, and the personal expression was not able to stretch freely. After "The Diary of a Country Priest", he bid farewell to literature and drama and began to shoot "author films" freely, and employed non-professional actors, especially against the use of stage plays in films. Spiritual temperament, but also established his status in the film industry in one fell swoop.
Diary of a Country Priest is based on the diary novel of the same name by Catholic author George Bernanos. The quietness, rigor and introspection pervading the film is like a sharp blade turned into a pen, its penetrating power is indescribable in words. As the pastor said in the film, "The words of human beings have no meaning. Except for themselves, the sins of human beings will affect others." With a sense of religious mission, the young pastor, who is cold and self-aware, is like a stray cat, lacking care and safety He felt that he was facing "a black wall" everywhere, but he had to take on the responsibility of giving and fraternity.
The loneliness of the young pastor (played by Claude Ledoux) in the small village and the coughing late at night contrast with each other. Not only did the old pastor worry, but also those who cared about him secretly sweat. He is, as always, "like a bee in a bottle that keeps buzzing". This kind of ignorant preaching caused a lot of right and wrong, and soon made people in the village tired, and they all hoped that he would leave soon. And his intersection with the Earl's family constitutes the main body of the film's narrative. In particular, the delicate relationship between him and the Countess and Miss Huydan, and the misunderstandings and interactions between the little girl Sara, the doctor Debon, classmate Defey, etc., make the film cast a layer of human impermanence. with gloom.
This is Bresson's way of using images to constantly explore the secret between human nature and religion. The spiritual predicament of various people is quietly swollen like the disease of the pastor himself. The cold and beautiful Xiudan's rebellion against the family is mixed with the helpless sprouting between her and the young pastor. This is the closed world controlled by the hand of darkness. And his conversation with the Countess at the fireside, persuading her to convert to religion, and taking out the Countess ornaments from the charcoal stove at risk, are the focus of the film, as well as the focus and node of the film.
Immediately, the countess died suddenly, and the young priest had to leave the village to see a doctor in Lyon. When he learned that he had no hope of being cured of stomach cancer, he said sadly to his classmate Defeli, who had returned from secular life, that I would rather fall in love with a girl than have an intellectual life. The last words in his life were "What's the difference, everything is a favor." That is, he used a diary every day to relieve his depression, but the long depression and forbearance and hopelessness could only cause him to die. It was not so much the sudden setback of a young priest as the general confusion, dazedness, and sadness of the human spirit.
It was also from this film that Bresson's images, with their abundant charm, left the world with light aura and gushing wisdom. The so-called "author's film" is actually the "film writing" that he recognizes. Even seeing the trees projected in his films would be amazed because the leaves are shaking. It is no exaggeration to say that Bresson created a new film language and a well-crafted image beauty. This is a gloomy and austere poem and painting, and it is also his back on the cold and narrow path. As he himself said, "I dreamed that my film gradually formed itself under the eyes, like a painter's eternally fresh canvas." It was this kind of persistence and silence that allowed him to create an extremely simple, restrained and quiet image style. . Le Clézio praised Bresson when he said, "Art is not in the spirit, but in the eyes, in the ears, in every inch of the body."
Bresson continues Dreyer's film tradition and incorporates his own unique image construction. From The Diary of a Country Priest, we can see that the facial expression is the embodiment of Bresson's rigorous form, and it seems that the soul of the character can be read from it. No matter whether it is long, medium, close-up and close-up of people, as well as push-pull, vertical and horizontal and cornering, each wonderful lens is like a contemplative, flowing and deep painting, which is amazing.
Thus, Diary of a Country Priest reminds us not only of Dreyer's "The Passion of Joan of Arc", but also of Bergman's "Winter Light". He is a well-deserved film master who connects the past and the future. But he rejects the involvement of art in films, saying that "'art films' and 'art films' are empty concepts. Art films lack the most art."
I think what he is against is only the so-called "art films" that are duplicitous, but emphasizes returning to the value and tradition of the film itself. Just as the "New Wave" generals later praised the movie view he recognized. They all believed that literature intervened too much in the film, and fabricated traces damaged the unique medium that the film manifested. Give the movie back to the movie. Bresson's deeper meaning is "I remember an old film: Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. For an amazing thirty seconds, life was in the air, and nothing happened. In fact, during those thirty seconds Everything happened. Film writing, using images and reproducing art at all."
Bresson made only 13 films from the start of "Public Affairs" in 1934 to the end of "Money" in 1983, which is very similar to the famous Danish director Dreyer he admires, and they both made Joan of Arc movie. Reminds me of what he said, "Neither a director nor a film artist. Forget you're making a film." But Bresson is always a fresh canvas for film lovers. Just like the 115-minute existence of "The Diary of a Country Priest", it makes us forget about other things, the busy and buzzing reality, and even ourselves.
2013, 7, 7
From the film critic collection "Invisible Movies" published by Haitian Publishing House
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