L'Argent

A grim, slow-moving update of Tolstoy's The Counterfeit Note, director Robert Bresson's final film begins as a photo shop owner comes into possession of counterfeit money and knowingly passes it along to a fuel deliveryman named Yvon. When Yvon is detained by the police after paying a restaurant bill with the funny money, the shop owner and his staff create a united perjured front against Yvon, and--despite the invoice showing he received payment from the shop--Yvon is fined, loses his job, and is unable to find other work, slowly spiraling into a criminal life that ends in tragedy. L'Argent's chain of events unwinds at a fairly leisurely pace (and includes a subplot with miscreant upper-crust teens), the acting is rather stiff and formal, and the dialogue often consists of blunt single sentences separated by fairly thick pauses. Although the ending is somewhat powerful, it could have been more effective if Bresson had injected more genuine emotion or activity into the foregoing proceedings, and while the film has many admirers (and earned Bresson honors at Cannes), L'Argent requires more than a little patience, even for devotees of French cinema. A worthwhile drama which may impress Bresson's fans, but is unlikely to wow those new to the director's canon, this is a strong optional purchase for larger foreign collections. (P. Hall)[Blu-ray/DVD Review—July 11, 2017—Criterion, 84 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $29.95, Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 1983's L'Argent features a great transfer and an uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray release. Extras include an “A to Z” video essay by film scholar James Quandt (51 min.), a 1983 Cannes Film Festival press conference with director Robert Bresson and the cast (31 min.), and a booklet featuring an essay by critic Adrian Martin and a 1983 interview with Bresson by critic Michel Ciment. Bottom line: a fine edition of Bresson's final film.]