A forged 500-franc note is passed from person to person and shop to shop, until it falls into the hands of a genuine innocent who doesn't see it for what it is—which will have devastating consequences on his life.
Direction
Bresson's final film—rigorous, pitiless, transcendent
Editing
Invisible cuts build inevitability like a trap closing
Acting
Non-professionals move like souls being weighed
Director
Robert Bresson
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Bresson adapted from a Tolstoy story, then stripped away all psychology—his 'models' follow physical action, not motivation.
Released as neoliberalism took hold, the film treats money as demonic force—Marx by way of Dreyer.
FR
