Mouchette (1967)

Mouchette is a young teenager living in the tough country. Her mother is going to die, and her father does not take care of her. Mouchette does not manage to express her rebellion against ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Bresson

Writers:

Georges Bernanos (novel), Robert Bresson (scenario & adaptation and dialogue)

Stars:

Nadine Nortier, Jean-Claude Guilbert, Marie Cardinal

4 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Nadine Nortier	...	Mouchette
Jean-Claude Guilbert	...	Arsène
Marie Cardinal	...	Mouchette's Mother
Paul Hebert	...	Mouchette's Father
Jean Vimenet	...	Mathieu - gamekeeper
Marie Susini	...	Mathieu's wife
Liliane Princet	...	Schoolteacher
Suzanne Huguenin	...	Undertaker
Marine Trichet	...	Luisa
Raymonde Chabrun	...	Grocery Shop-owner

Storyline

Mouchette is a young teenager living in the tough country. Her mother is going to die, and her father does not take care of her. Mouchette does not manage to express her rebellion against the humiliations she undergoes. One night, in the wood, she meets Arsene. Arsene is the poacher of the village. He thinks he has just killed Mathieu, the rural policeman. He tries to use Mouchette to build an alibi.

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Plot Keywords:

alibi | poacher | woods | policeman | humiliation | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

12 March 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Amor e Morte

Company Credits

Production Co:

Argos Films, Parc Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min 90 min (VHS)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It was rumored for years that the trailer for this film was by Jean-Luc Godard, and he has recently confirmed this by programming it in a self-curated retrospective of his work. The trailer is virtually a miniature essay on (or subversion of) the film, jarringly intercutting excerpts from it with a written commentary that calls it "Christian and sadistic".

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Goofs

(at around 1 min) The canteen changes position after being dropped.

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Connections

Featured in The Dreamers (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Magnificat"
Written by Claudio Monteverdi
Performed by Les Chanteurs de St. Custache
Conducted by R.P. Émile Martin

User Reviews

Agony wrapped in stillness

A poor teenage girl, Mouchette, living in rural France, is immediately depicted as a tragic heroine: with a bed-ridden mother and an absent alcoholic father, Mouchette takes care of everything in the household, including her baby brother. She has no friends, and seems to live a purposeless life; even when she does want to escape her reality, and try to remind herself she's a kid, either people or circumstances violently throw her back into the harshness of a scary adult world. One night, her life will make things even worse, and, as the second part of the film flows in, Mouchette encounters a series of people who treat her all in different ways. Only at the very end of the movie, will she take action. Robert Bresson's eighth film contains typical trademarks of the director, like the frequent religious symbolisms found within the technical aspects of the film: they are located in the particularly attentive shots of the camera, but especially, in the clever use of sound : most of the film flows through a series of suffocating scenes that show Mouchette's every-day tasks, which unfold maintaining a painful silence in the background: God's silence. Only at the end of the movie is there music, a simple but effective expedient to highlight the sense of relief the protagonist should feel. Winner of the OCIC Award at the Cannes festival of 1967.