Pickpocket (1959)

Welcome back to another venture into the featured Letterboxd Lists. This time around we will be focusing on the Sight and Sound’s Greatest Films of All Time 2022 list. More specifically, we’ll be looking at number 144 on that list with…Pickpocket (1959).

Title: Pickpocket

Director: Robert Bresson

Runtime: 1 hour 15 minutes

Released: December 16, 1959 (France)

Available to stream on: The Criterion Channel

Michel (Martin LaSalle) is a Parisian pickpocket. When we first see him, he is at a racetrack and has his eyes set on a woman’s purse. Successfully, or so we think, he is able to lift the cash from the purse and casually walk out of the racetrack. Upon exiting, Michel is quickly apprehended. Luckily for Michel, there isn’t any evidence to prove that he stole the money, so the chief inspector releases him.

While at a bar with a friend, Michel spots the chief inspector and invites him to join them. The topic of conversation takes an interesting turn when Michel begins to ask the chief inspector about the morality of thieves. Is the act ever forgivable? Better yet, if you are someone of superior intelligence and prestige, should you be bound by the same laws as the everyman?

Quickly we learn that Michel doesn’t turn to pickpocketing because he has no other way. No, rather, he enjoys the thrill of the act.

The thrill of the act is only intensified when Michel has a fellow pickpocket act as sort of a mentor. He teaches Michel how to be more discreet as well as showing him new techniques. The two begin pickpocketing as a team and splitting the haul between them. As they hone their craft over time, they add a third man to their team as the complexity to their pickpocketing increases.

Will Michel continue on his lucky streak if caught again?

When I do these reviews, I try to go in knowing as little as possible about the film before pressing play. Sometimes, this results in my assumptions of a film being way off base, such was the case with Pickpocket (1959).

I went in assuming it would be some sort of a dramatic thriller about a pickpocket’s escapades. While, in a very roundabout way, that is kind of what I got, but Pickpocket (1959) is so much more than that. The main focal point being the morality behind the act itself.

One thing that stood out to me was the overall lack of dialogue. Yes, there is dialogue between characters, however, most of the story is told through Michel’s narration. By telling the story primarily through narration, it allows the characters to kind of blend in with their surroundings. If you’re a pickpocket such as Michel, that is exactly what you want.

Bresson chooses to use music and blocking to tell his story. There is no small talk between Michel and any of his targets. Instead, all we see is an expressionless Michel as he deftly attempts to unlatch a purse, lift a wallet from a coat, or remove a watch from someone’s wrist. Despite there being no emotion on Michel’s face, you can feel the tension building with each breath and movement.

Pickpocket (1959) happened to be the first film directed by Robert Bresson that I’ve seen. I can confidently say that it certainly won’t be my last.

If you’ve seen Pickpocket (1959), what did you think of it?

Let me know in the comments below or by reaching out to me across social media!

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