Very good, creating a palpable feeling of desperation, but I find myself having a lot of trouble connecting with Bresson's films as much as I'd like to. Hopefully one day I shall...

A testament to Bresson's mastery of silence. He shoots in whispers and draws the viewer in close to the bleak title character, walled in as she is by a host of Gazes. Watch it, just not while you're in a bad mood.

poor little mouchette ;.;

Bresson is one of the masters when it comes to highlighting the horrors of the mundane, joyless, unobserved life.

Typical Bresson reaction from me; good, but unremarkable. I did feel for the titular character, but I don't know, I just didn't get into it. Maybe I have to be in the precise right mood to love rather than just admire a Bresson.

Gestures, aggressive gestures. From a friendly whiplash contest to hostile exposure. If you give it out you're going to get it, if you don't you'll get it more. Everyone wanting compassion in return for abuse. It's a sad film, possibly the saddest damn thing I've every seen, but it's honest and dark. Mouchette's perception seems to rely on you're own understanding, and it's enthralling. She's angry, but what can she do. Empathy seems a slight, and a slight cuts deep against misery. Hope is dead.

The darkest Bresson I've seen, which says plenty. Few characters lead lives of such destitution and misery as Mouchette does, and yet her stoic demeanor scarcely betrays her suffering, with only the tears that run down her unblinking face as evidence. (Plus the occasional mild act of defiance, rare by Bresson standards.) Bresson's nighttime photography in the woods is really incredible.

I have trouble connecting with many of Bresson's films. Although I often feel like I don't really get what he's going for, I continue to explore his filmography, drawn back to it by his unique style. Content-wise, I found this one sort of dull.

Bit of a downer!

I greatly enjoy Bresson's minimalist approach and it works especially well here. The sparsity of the text helps keep our focus on the mood and atmosphere. That mood is, of course, relentlessly downbeat. That's to be expected from Bresson, but unlike with his other features, here it come across as somewhat forced and unnatural. It's still a damn fine movie with a very sympathetic lead.

Least favorite Bresson film so far; simply far too one-note and dull. Look to Balthazar instead, which says the same things but with much more subtlety and depth.

#285

Bresson is attentive and almost as immobile as the sorrow itself, in his depiction of (indefinable, but intelligible) human grief.

Bresson is a master, and this is the film I regard as his most perfect. I love the way he makes his characters seem dead-pan and worn out (by actually wearing them out, doing hundreds of takes) and at the same time causing the audience to invest in them.

# 260

Short and really depressing. Much like Mouchette's life.

Pretty decent. Bresson's method of underacting is particularly apparent here, and creates a very interesting effect against the backdrop of a bleak script. Bernanos is not a great writer - Diary of a Country Priest was kind of banter - but here he's more restrained and focused.

There's still a couple of Bressons I haven't seen yet, but this one is definitely the darkest so far. Even darker than Une Femme Douce, with which it shares certain themes (also Balthazar, and I got kind of a 400 Blows vibe from it as well). The common Bresson elements are all here: under-acting, attention to physicality, careful framing. I liked it, but it was mighty depressing. Like L'Argent, I think it will grow on me more if I watch it again.

Heartbreakingly depressing yet completely enthralling. Bresson's style fits the film's subject matter incredibly well.

There's something vaguely unnerving about Bresson's minimalistic style. There's very little dialogue, the characters act like robots, and his approach to the story is marked by such austerity and detachment that the end result is at times almost surreal. Contrary to what is often said about Bresson's fairness to the audience, I think Mouchette is somewhat manipulative in the way it piles on the misery and suffering for its protagonist, but the movie is good enough for me to forgive that.

Bresson's stark technique magnifies his lead's anguish and in stripping cinema of it's power of maniupulation, Mouchette exposes the cruel, taboo core of a patriachal society.