Mouchette is another one of Bresson's "silent sufferers," like Balthazar in "Au hasard Balthazar", who takes all the punishment and abuse of the world from the very sinners she suffers to defend. Removing himself a bit from the Christian imagery, Bresson takes a very disturbing and depressing approach to something like the coming-of-age movie, where a confused and helpless teenager is thrust suddenly into adulthood.
This movie isn't nearly as brooding as "Au hasard Balthazar," but in a way it can be more disturbing for it. Unlike in Balthazar, Mouchette is given almost a moment of joy in the scene with the bumper cars, after which she attempts to approach the boy she flirted with during the run. However, she is quickly pulled away from any "temptation" by her father, and quickly is thrust back into the land of quiet despair.
It's no wonder her confusion and pain, especially at the end. After Mouchette is raped and her mother dies, she wanders the land in search of some certainty and instead is called several derogative names by the townspeople... all of her attempts to react back at them are rebuked, and she's left with absolutely nothing.
What Bresson is absolutely spectacular at doing is showing versions of death that are more transcendent than sad. When we mourn Bresson's heroes, it is more with a happy knowledge that they have lived past this world of suffering. Bresson's Catholic values saturate much of his film-making, especially in "Mouchette" and "Au hasard Balthazar", but his movies are just as powerful as character studies. "Mouchette" is a fine piece of film-making that endears the viewer to a sense of quiet suffering not often scene in any medium.
--PolarisDiB
This movie isn't nearly as brooding as "Au hasard Balthazar," but in a way it can be more disturbing for it. Unlike in Balthazar, Mouchette is given almost a moment of joy in the scene with the bumper cars, after which she attempts to approach the boy she flirted with during the run. However, she is quickly pulled away from any "temptation" by her father, and quickly is thrust back into the land of quiet despair.
It's no wonder her confusion and pain, especially at the end. After Mouchette is raped and her mother dies, she wanders the land in search of some certainty and instead is called several derogative names by the townspeople... all of her attempts to react back at them are rebuked, and she's left with absolutely nothing.
What Bresson is absolutely spectacular at doing is showing versions of death that are more transcendent than sad. When we mourn Bresson's heroes, it is more with a happy knowledge that they have lived past this world of suffering. Bresson's Catholic values saturate much of his film-making, especially in "Mouchette" and "Au hasard Balthazar", but his movies are just as powerful as character studies. "Mouchette" is a fine piece of film-making that endears the viewer to a sense of quiet suffering not often scene in any medium.
--PolarisDiB