L'Argent (1983 film)
| L'Argent | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Robert Bresson |
| Produced by | Jean-Marc Henchoz Daniel Toscan du Plantier |
| Written by | Robert Bresson |
| Based on |
The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy |
| Starring | Christian Patey Béatrice Tabourin Didier Baussy Vincent Visterucci |
| Cinematography |
Pasqualino De Santis Emmanuel Machuel |
| Edited by | Jean-François Naudon |
| Distributed by | MK2 Diffusion |
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Release date
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Running time
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83 minutes |
| Country | France Switzerland |
| Language | French |
L'Argent (French pronunciation: [laʁ.ʒɑ̃], meaning "Money") is a 1983 French drama film directed by Robert Bresson. It is loosely inspired by the first part of Leo Tolstoy's novella The Forged Coupon. It was Bresson's last film. It earned its maker the Director's Prize at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival.
A young man enters his father's study to claim a monthly allowance. His father obliges, but the son presses for more, citing a debt at school he must pay. The father dismisses him and an appeal to his mother fails. This leads him to try to pawn his watch to a friend who, instead gives him a forged 500-franc note. After the trade, the youth lingers to peruse an album of nude art, with similar images to appear throughout the film.
The boys take the counterfeit to a photo shop and change it on the pretext of buying a picture frame. When the store co-manager finds out, he scolds his partner for her lack of wariness. She chides him in return for having accepted two forged notes the previous week. He then vows to pass off all the forged notes in their possession at the next opportunity, which arises when a gas man, Yvon, comes in with a bill.
Yvon tries to pay a restaurant tab with the forged notes, but the waiter recognizes them as counterfeit. Yvon is arrested, at the trial the photo shop people lie. Yvon avoids jail time; however, he loses his job. Needing money, he acts as the get-away car driver for a friend's bank robbery. The robbery is foiled by police, and Yvon is arrested. He is sentenced to prison for three years. While in prison, his daughter dies and his wife writes to him that she is leaving him to start a new life. He tries to commit suicide but survives.
When released from prison, Yvon has nothing. Right away, he murders hotel keepers and robs their till. He then is taken in by a kind woman over the objection of her father. Some time passes, and one night Yvon kills everyone in the house with an axe. He goes to a restaurant, confesses to a police officer, and is arrested.
Bresson first began work on the film's script in 1977. It is based on Leo Tolstoy's The Forged Coupon. Bresson later said that it was the film "with which I am most satisfied- or at least it is the one where I found the most surprises when it was complete- things I had not expected."
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