Not much of a story to grab on to.... Guy's being a dick throughout the film, and the woman somehow falls in love him anyway.

Um bom filme do ponto de vista cinematográfico e de roteiro, mas confesso que foi meio difícil de assistir, mesmo sendo um longa breve.

Only a short watch at an hour and a quarter but still this dragged. A promising start gives way to French philosophical stiltedness and I never cared for the characters. It was a pretty dull piece of cinema that I don’t wish to see again but it cost me a little to get a copy for the library. Watched it on Blu-ray.

Bresson is revered for hiring non actors, but unlike the master De Sica who also often worked with non actors, Bresson can not properly direct them to get actual performances. The lead performance by Salle is laughably terrible, with lines delivered like an elementary school student practicing a stage play. This film is an overrated exercise in style. It has its moments, but feels like a student film. Bresson is only at his best when the actors can act with no direction.

I love French films but I couldn't connect with this one at all. The lead character is extremely boring and the story a little pointless.

Engrossing and atmospheric but perhaps a tad overrated.

There is no mistaking Pickpocket for anything other than a Robert Bresson film. Clocking in at a scant seventy-five minutes, it is as clean and as crisp a movie as one could imagine, devoid of anything that even hints at being extraneous or irrelevant. Michel (Martin LaSalle) is adrift in life, unemployed and directionless, ultimately honing his dexterity to become a pickpocket. It is an incredibly simple story about redemption and the motivating influence of unrequited love, but the simplicity, as with all Bresson films, is what gives it its beauty.

I am not sure if this film was restored, or even needed restoration. The black and white print is immaculate and the soundscape is perfection. You feel as though you're in Paris in 1959. It has a documentary feel to it and, if my bad French is correct, in the captions at the start it thanks a person (one word name so presumably it's a nom-de-plume, so to speak) who advised on the pickpocket techniques shown throughout the story. The actor playing the eponymous role does not emote very much and it is the intensity of his expression that draws him to the audience. He's a thief through and through but he still gets some sympathy. He's given chances to reform by a detective who displays a similar sympathy but justice wins in the end. Without spoiling the ending, it is only by failing that he achieves his redemption through the love of a woman. Well worth your time.

The good first- main ideas it seems Bresson was going for with this movie are brought out well. Lasalle's Michel is very much an existential type, making his own reality tunnel of morality in what he sees as a very absurd, unfair existence. The viewer has ample time and examples to weigh his view versus those of Jeanne and Jacques. Jeanne is especially the voice of verite and goodness. The setting is workaday Paris- trams, trains, streets, diners, and of course Michel's hovel apt. He is a man of simple means, from the same suit he wears each day to his scratching out a living as a petty thief. All this plays out simply enough. The bad? Bresson's insistence on 'not acting' leaves this viewer feeling even more of that existential bent. The character's lack of emotional expression gave me a cold reaction, and left me feeling it was a bit too cerebral only. The acting was weak at times, with that very last scene of Michel and Jeanne 'sorts' kissing, but he just looked absurd himself. Also, some of those scenes where he/they are taking the wallets/money from people were too hard to believe. The one with the woman's purse being switched with a newspaper was esp. hard to swallow. Not the classic cinema experience for me, but still strong. 3.4 stars

A thriller isn't what I was expecting, but definitely not also a chore to sit through! As far as I can tell by the voice-over narration and the way the movie chronicles the protagonist's life, this is supposed to be character study. To be fair, It plays like one, but I strived to find anything of interest to compel me to be invested in Michel's character and ended up empty handed. His anguish and internal conflict the notebook offers us a window into felt rather bland and I couldn't buy his nihilistic tendency the film seems to force on him at all. To add insult to injury, the tone is agonizingly stagnant, and the performances, and especially from Martin LaSalle in the leading role, are wooden to the point that the emotional and intense scenes come off as if the actors are feigning emotions, shock and screams. The only merit I could see is in the scenes detailing Michel's sleight of hand, only because of the slick, precise editing and exquisite framing techniques they show. Really underwhelmed especially since this is my first rendezvous with Bresson.

Has the air of 1950s French Existentialism -- Sartre/Genet. Mystery. Why is he doing this? Is redemption possible?

1001 movies to see before you die. Learning about pickpockets was fascinating and the director is good. However, it was taxing at time and I didn't identify with his motives or actions. Regardless, it is a good movie.

Revered for its poetic timing, oblique narrative style and meticulously choreographed theft sequences, Robert Breeson's "Pickpocket" is a love letter to directors and filmmakers but leaves much to be desired for any audiences that intend to watch for anything other than the technical elements. The now notorious use of nonprofessional actors in this 75 minute drama is a stylistic choice that works beautifully in theory, but unfortunately in the case of the protagonist, Michael (played by Martin LeSalle) it reads more as an amateur actor than an untrained blank slate. Within the delicate world of nuance and extreme subtlety that Bresson creates, LeSalle's exaggerated eye movements and theatre-like line delivery feel like being hit over the head, and draw unwanted attention to the lacklustre plot and dialogue — at some points even threatening to break the suspension of disbelief created by the artful cinematography. The protagonist is an apathetic, narcissistic and isolated young man with a morbid curiosity for minor theft, whom despite having no redeeming or particularly compelling traits (other than his self proclaimed genius) manages to capture the affections and unwavering loyalties of a friend (Jacques, played by Pierre Leymarie) who encourages him to make an honest living, and a young woman (Jeanne, played by Marika Green) who is a neighbor and caregiver to his Ill (and then deceased) mother. Michaels character spends the majority of the film acting on his compulsion to steal without any tangible character development (other than some improvement to his sleight of hand). He steals from his mother and then close friend, with the only hint of conscience or remorse being found in the viewers own projection and desperation to find some reason to excuse or pity him. His character arc remains disturbingly flat throughout, finding him briefly heading towards redemption as he helps the young Jeanne financially in the care of her infant, only to show how little change has occurred at the first available opportunity, abandoning all sense of responsibility towards her for a poorly executed theft that leads to his arrest. The last 2 minutes of the film could be from a different movie entirely, with Michael and Jeanne meeting through the prison bars and realizing the passion and "love" they have somehow cultivated for each other (despite michael being indifferent at best and insufferable at worst) which is a whiplash inducing development that seems to come out of thin air. The love-story ending feels like a Hail Mary attempt to give the plot and characters some substance, and maybe distract the audience from the lack of any real progression. Against the hopes of the viewer for something profound or meaningful, this film is essentially a masterfully crafted picture frame over a painting only noteworthy in its incredible dullness.

I get it, it was another time and a new way of conceiving cinema, but nobody can actually say this was solid and believe it. The stealing scenes were pure art and I loved them, but the romance, the "catch the thief" story line and the friendship were as dry as dust.

Bresson strips this narrative about virtue, necessity, moral decay, and ultimate redemption down to its bare bones but somehow composes it with prolonged, calculated scenes that are clearly premeditated. Every lingering glance is designed to provide insight into our protagonist and how his surroundings affect him in the moment; the director is a master at his craft. (4/5)

A known classic about a pickpocket that quits his line of "work" for a while after getting caught. When his mother dies he get's back into it as he mostly know other pickpockets and he feels it's his only way of excisting and expressing himself. It got some very realistic scenes and some neat finger skills. You kind of cheer for the guy as he steals stuff from people in public. It got that unique Bresson look and it's not a very happy film. That said, it's not a very touching film either but it really oozes with emotions from it's presentation and great acting. I got some minor issues with the character build up and it's also a bit repitative even if it has some pretty solid plot development. I think I have seen only two other films of his and "Au hasard Balthazar" is my favorite by miles. This was a solid, short flick that I'm glad I gave a go, but I may have picked the wrong day as I was hoping for a bit more. 7.5 out of 10 wallets.

Bresson is simply the master of visual storytelling, this film being no exception to the trend.

Absolute masterpiece. Bresson makes you identify in the protagonist (masterfully played and written), you are him for a hour and having his point of view it's easy to understand his reasons, even if he is a criminal.

There's a palpable gay subtext to Bresson's short highly controlled study of a young Parisian's life of petty crime. Picking pockets allows emotional distance and subterfuge, and Bresson observes his central character without judgment. The final sequence of Michel separated from the only person he's cared for by a steel mesh shows the price he's paid.

At the outset Bresson "debunks" the misconception suggested by the title that it is a thriller, which is almost right. For the most part it is a lonely, uneasy film. However don't let this fool you into thinking it is a suspense-less affair; the scenes where our protagonist steals are perfectly executed scenes of ball-breaking tension.