Welcome back for another featured Letterboxd List review! This week we’re going off the beaten path in terms of the list we’re looking at. From the Alex Winter’s 50 B-Sides and Rarities we will be looking at…L’Argent (1983).
Title: L’Argent
Director: Robert Bresson
Released: May 16, 1983 (premiere at Cannes Film Festival), May 18, 1983 (theatrical release in France)
Runtime: 1 hour 25 minutes
Available to stream on: The Criterion Channel and MAX
A schoolboy named Norbert fails in an attempt to get a little extra out of his father for his allowance. In doing so, the boy unknowingly sets into motion a series of events that will impact many different lives.
In order to obtain the money to repay his friend, Norbert decides to pawn his watch to another friend in exchange for a forged 500 franc note. Unsure of how to get rid of the forged note, Norbert decides to try and pass it off at the local photographer’s.
Much to his surprise, it worked and the woman at the counter accepted the note. However, the boss discovers that it is a forged note. Instead of doing the right thing, he decides to then pawn off the note on someone else. Unfortunate timing on the part of the local gas man named Yvon (Christian Patey) leads to him being paid for services rendered with the forged note.
Yvon has no idea that the note he’s in possession of is a forgery. That is, until he tries to pay for a meal with the note and the police are called. Through no fault of his own, Yvon’s whole world is about to come crumbling down.
All because little Norbert couldn’t swindle a few extra francs out of his father.
Funny enough, last year I wrote about the only other Robert Bresson film I have seen. That was for Pickpocket and it came off of the Sight and Sound’s Greatest Films of All Time 2022 list. I quite enjoyed Pickpocket so I was hoping I’d feel the same way about L’Argent (1983).
From a purely technical standpoint, I love the way it looks. The blocking, the editing, the seemingly odd cuts to a single stationary item that somehow manages to intensify the lingering stench of trouble and despair.
Whether intentional or not, the almost expressionless line delivery from everyone in the cast really helps to establish and maintain a cold and detached feeling that is present throughout.
However, despite clocking in at just under 90-minutes, this feels like a 2+ hour-long movie. We all know that money is the root of all evil. When you’re reminded of that in the bleakest of terms, over and over, it wears on you.
Despite my feeling every second of the runtime, I still found that I enjoyed L’Argent (1983).
Would I say that I enjoyed it more than I did Pickpocket? Not even close.
That being said, it is still definitely worthy of at least one viewing.
Well, now it’s your turn!
What are your thoughts on L’Argent (1983)?
Leave a comment down below or reach out to me on Bluesky and let me hear your thoughts!
As always, you can follow me over on Letterboxd to see what else I’ve been watching lately.