Bresson Interview
For this blog post, I have found an interview excerpt entitled "ROBERT BRESSON: ‘I’M NOT A DIRECTOR. I AM A FILMMAKER.’" from Bresson on Bresson- Interviews (1943-1983).
In this interview, with François-Régis Bastide, Bresson comments on the way in which he films (apparently barely checking his shot-list during the filming of Pickpocket--which we saw excerpts of in class), his book Notes on the Cinematographer, and his many strict convictions on filmmaking.
I found Bresson's comments on the use of sound within his films interesting as this absence of music, mentioned in the quotes below, was an entity I found myself reflecting upon a lot while watching L'argent.
RB: Yes. In fact, I would very much like to rectify something that I missed in the past. I said, “No music except, of course, music played by visible instruments.” And I say that “sounds must become music.” What I mean is simply: “no phantom orchestras.” Which we see in films whenever there is music and we have no idea where it comes from; we think we might be at the opera, except there’s no way we can be at the opera when we’re in the middle of the countryside.
RB: What I want to say, to correct what I have said and now regret saying: I have said that all of the elements of a film exert pressure on one another and change one another (this is how I hope images become truly expressive, by way of the relations between them, and also the relations between the images and music). I should have written that in cases where music is played by visible instruments and where the music modifies the image, it can be used at will.
I also find it interesting that Bresson makes a point of working strictly with "non-actors" and referring to these non-actors as "'models,' like a painter or sculptor calls those who pose for him his 'models.' But I eliminate the pose—because I don’t want them to pose. I want them to be intact, virgin. What I want from them is the unknown." This being part of Bresson's belief in separating film from theatre; and avid detest of "filmed theatre".
Here is the link to the interview:
https://lithub.com/robert-bresson-im-not-a-director-i-am-a-filmmaker/
In this interview, with François-Régis Bastide, Bresson comments on the way in which he films (apparently barely checking his shot-list during the filming of Pickpocket--which we saw excerpts of in class), his book Notes on the Cinematographer, and his many strict convictions on filmmaking.
I found Bresson's comments on the use of sound within his films interesting as this absence of music, mentioned in the quotes below, was an entity I found myself reflecting upon a lot while watching L'argent.
RB: Yes. In fact, I would very much like to rectify something that I missed in the past. I said, “No music except, of course, music played by visible instruments.” And I say that “sounds must become music.” What I mean is simply: “no phantom orchestras.” Which we see in films whenever there is music and we have no idea where it comes from; we think we might be at the opera, except there’s no way we can be at the opera when we’re in the middle of the countryside.
RB: What I want to say, to correct what I have said and now regret saying: I have said that all of the elements of a film exert pressure on one another and change one another (this is how I hope images become truly expressive, by way of the relations between them, and also the relations between the images and music). I should have written that in cases where music is played by visible instruments and where the music modifies the image, it can be used at will.
I also find it interesting that Bresson makes a point of working strictly with "non-actors" and referring to these non-actors as "'models,' like a painter or sculptor calls those who pose for him his 'models.' But I eliminate the pose—because I don’t want them to pose. I want them to be intact, virgin. What I want from them is the unknown." This being part of Bresson's belief in separating film from theatre; and avid detest of "filmed theatre".
Here is the link to the interview:
https://lithub.com/robert-bresson-im-not-a-director-i-am-a-filmmaker/
Comments
Post a Comment