Robert Bresson

Directing

Robert Bresson

Born — Died

1901-09-25 — 1999-12-18

Place of birth

Bromont-Lamothe, Puy-de-Dôme, Auvergne, France

Known for

Directing

Credits

39 titles

Robert Bresson (French: [ʁɔbɛʁ bʁɛsɔ̃]; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French filmmaker. Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson made a notable contribution to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, ellipses, and sparse use of scoring have led his works to be regarded as preeminent examples of minimalist film. Much of his work is known for being tragic in story and nature. Bresson is among the most highly regarded filmmakers of all time. He has the highest number of films (seven) that made the 2012 Sight and Sound critics' poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. His works A Man Escaped (1956), Pickpocket (1959) and Au hasard Balthazar (1966) were ranked among the top 1…

Known for

Cinépanorama poster
8.7

No synopsis available yet.

Cinépanorama

1956

Pickpocket poster
7.3

Michel takes up pickpocketing on a lark and is arrested soon after. His mother dies shortly after his release, and despite the objections of his only friend, Jacques, and his mother's neighbor Jeanne, Michel teams up with a couple of petty thieves in order to improve his craft. With a police inspector keeping an eye on him, Michel also tries to get a straight job, but the temptation to steal is hard to resist.

Pickpocket

1959

Pour le plaisir poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Pour le plaisir

1964

Diary of a Country Priest poster
7.5

An inexperienced, sickly priest shows up in the rural French community of Ambricourt, where he joins the community's clergy. But the locals don't take kindly to the priest, and his ascetic ways and unsociable demeanor make him an outcast. During Bible studies at the nearby girls school, he is continually mocked by his students. Then his attempt to intervene in a family feud backfires into a scandal. His failures, compounded with his declining health, begin to erode his faith.

Diary of a Country Priest

1951

Au Hasard Balthazar poster
7.5

The story of a donkey Balthazar as he is passed from owner to owner, some kind and some cruel but all with motivations beyond his understanding. Balthazar, whose life parallels that of his first keeper, Marie, is truly a beast of burden, suffering the sins of humankind. But despite his powerlessness, he accepts his fate nobly.

Au Hasard Balthazar

1966

A Man Escaped poster
8.0

A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from prison.

A Man Escaped

1956

Film credits

2020s · 1 titles

1960s · 4 titles

Series credits

Behind the camera

Pickpocket poster
7.3

Michel takes up pickpocketing on a lark and is arrested soon after. His mother dies shortly after his release, and despite the objections of his only friend, Jacques, and his mother's neighbor Jeanne, Michel teams up with a couple of petty thieves in order to improve his craft. With a police inspector keeping an eye on him, Michel also tries to get a straight job, but the temptation to steal is hard to resist.

Pickpocket

1959

Pickpocket poster
7.3

Michel takes up pickpocketing on a lark and is arrested soon after. His mother dies shortly after his release, and despite the objections of his only friend, Jacques, and his mother's neighbor Jeanne, Michel teams up with a couple of petty thieves in order to improve his craft. With a police inspector keeping an eye on him, Michel also tries to get a straight job, but the temptation to steal is hard to resist.

Pickpocket

1959

Diary of a Country Priest poster
7.5

An inexperienced, sickly priest shows up in the rural French community of Ambricourt, where he joins the community's clergy. But the locals don't take kindly to the priest, and his ascetic ways and unsociable demeanor make him an outcast. During Bible studies at the nearby girls school, he is continually mocked by his students. Then his attempt to intervene in a family feud backfires into a scandal. His failures, compounded with his declining health, begin to erode his faith.

Diary of a Country Priest

1951

Diary of a Country Priest poster
7.5

An inexperienced, sickly priest shows up in the rural French community of Ambricourt, where he joins the community's clergy. But the locals don't take kindly to the priest, and his ascetic ways and unsociable demeanor make him an outcast. During Bible studies at the nearby girls school, he is continually mocked by his students. Then his attempt to intervene in a family feud backfires into a scandal. His failures, compounded with his declining health, begin to erode his faith.

Diary of a Country Priest

1951

Au Hasard Balthazar poster
7.5

The story of a donkey Balthazar as he is passed from owner to owner, some kind and some cruel but all with motivations beyond his understanding. Balthazar, whose life parallels that of his first keeper, Marie, is truly a beast of burden, suffering the sins of humankind. But despite his powerlessness, he accepts his fate nobly.

Au Hasard Balthazar

1966

Au Hasard Balthazar poster
7.5

The story of a donkey Balthazar as he is passed from owner to owner, some kind and some cruel but all with motivations beyond his understanding. Balthazar, whose life parallels that of his first keeper, Marie, is truly a beast of burden, suffering the sins of humankind. But despite his powerlessness, he accepts his fate nobly.

Au Hasard Balthazar

1966

A Man Escaped poster
8.0

A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from prison.

A Man Escaped

1956

A Man Escaped poster
8.0

A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from prison.

A Man Escaped

1956

Mouchette poster
7.4

A young girl living in the French countryside suffers constant indignities at the hand of alcoholism and her fellow man.

Mouchette

1967

Mouchette poster
7.4

A young girl living in the French countryside suffers constant indignities at the hand of alcoholism and her fellow man.

Mouchette

1967

Four Nights of a Dreamer poster
7.1

Jacques, a young man with artistic aspirations, spends four nights wandering Paris with a young woman, whom he rescued from suicide.

Four Nights of a Dreamer

1972

Four Nights of a Dreamer poster
7.1

Jacques, a young man with artistic aspirations, spends four nights wandering Paris with a young woman, whom he rescued from suicide.

Four Nights of a Dreamer

1972

The Devil, Probably poster
6.8

Charles drifts through politics, religion and psychoanalysis, rejecting them all. Once he realises the depth of his disgust with the moral and physical decline of the society he lives in, he decides that suicide is the only option...

The Devil, Probably

1977

The Devil, Probably poster
6.8

Charles drifts through politics, religion and psychoanalysis, rejecting them all. Once he realises the depth of his disgust with the moral and physical decline of the society he lives in, he decides that suicide is the only option...

The Devil, Probably

1977

L'Argent poster
6.9

A forged 500-franc note is passed from person to person and shop to shop, until it falls into the hands of a genuine innocent who doesn't see it for what it is—which will have devastating consequences on his life.

L'Argent

1983

L'Argent poster
6.9

A forged 500-franc note is passed from person to person and shop to shop, until it falls into the hands of a genuine innocent who doesn't see it for what it is—which will have devastating consequences on his life.

L'Argent

1983

Lancelot of the Lake poster
6.2

Having failed in their quest for the Holy Grail, the knights of the Round Table return to Camelot, their number reduced to a mere handful. Seeing a rift developing between Lancelot and Mordred, Arthur urges his knights to bury their differences and become friends. However, the King is unaware that Lancelot is having an affair with his queen, Guinevere. Lancelot is torn between his duty to his king and his love for the queen, whilst Mordred is determined to use his infidelity to destroy him.

Lancelot of the Lake

1974

Lancelot of the Lake poster
6.2

Having failed in their quest for the Holy Grail, the knights of the Round Table return to Camelot, their number reduced to a mere handful. Seeing a rift developing between Lancelot and Mordred, Arthur urges his knights to bury their differences and become friends. However, the King is unaware that Lancelot is having an affair with his queen, Guinevere. Lancelot is torn between his duty to his king and his love for the queen, whilst Mordred is determined to use his infidelity to destroy him.

Lancelot of the Lake

1974

The Trial of Joan of Arc poster
7.2

Rouen, Normandy, 1431, during the Hundred Years' War. After being captured by French soldiers from an opposing faction, Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orléans, is unjustly tried by an ecclesiastical court overseen by her English enemies.

The Trial of Joan of Arc

1963

The Trial of Joan of Arc poster
7.2

Rouen, Normandy, 1431, during the Hundred Years' War. After being captured by French soldiers from an opposing faction, Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orléans, is unjustly tried by an ecclesiastical court overseen by her English enemies.

The Trial of Joan of Arc

1963

Les Dames du bois de Boulogne poster
6.9

A love story that follows the maneuverings of a society lady as she connives to initiate a scandalous affair between her aristocratic ex-lover and a prostitute.

Les Dames du bois de Boulogne

1945

Les Dames du bois de Boulogne poster
6.9

A love story that follows the maneuverings of a society lady as she connives to initiate a scandalous affair between her aristocratic ex-lover and a prostitute.

Les Dames du bois de Boulogne

1945

A Gentle Woman poster
6.8

When his young wife commits suicide with no explanation, an introspective pawnbroker looks back on their life together.

A Gentle Woman

1969

A Gentle Woman poster
6.8

When his young wife commits suicide with no explanation, an introspective pawnbroker looks back on their life together.

A Gentle Woman

1969

Angels of Sin poster
6.9

A well-off young woman decides to become a nun, joining a convent that rehabilitates female prisoners. Through their program, she meets a woman named Thérèse who refuses any help because she says she was innocent of the crime she was convicted for. After being released from prison, Thérèse murders the actual perpetrator of the crime and comes to seek sanctuary in the convent.

Angels of Sin

1943

Angels of Sin poster
6.9

A well-off young woman decides to become a nun, joining a convent that rehabilitates female prisoners. Through their program, she meets a woman named Thérèse who refuses any help because she says she was innocent of the crime she was convicted for. After being released from prison, Thérèse murders the actual perpetrator of the crime and comes to seek sanctuary in the convent.

Angels of Sin

1943

No artwork available
5.1

A slapstick comedy centered on two neighboring republics, Crogandia and Miremia, and the various disasters that befall the ceremonial unveiling of a statue, the launching of a ship, and the crash-landing of a Miremian pilot in Crogandian territory.

Les Affaires publiques

1934

No artwork available
5.1

A slapstick comedy centered on two neighboring republics, Crogandia and Miremia, and the various disasters that befall the ceremonial unveiling of a statue, the launching of a ship, and the crash-landing of a Miremian pilot in Crogandian territory.

Les Affaires publiques

1934

Southern Carrier poster
6.6

A pilot on one of the air mail flights between France and its African colonies has a brief romance with his distressed cousin before he returns to the call of duty, and the rebels in the desert.

Southern Carrier

1937