Yesterday I received in the mail the videotape (published by Kino
Video) of Diary of a Country Priest. I watched the entire thing.
I'm devastated. I've truly never been so profoundly moved by any
film as this. I'd seen it 30 years ago, at Melnitz Hall in UCLA,
and it never left my memory; but in that version the narrator's voice
was dubbed (by a man with a British accent) rather than having
subtitles. I mean, the actual voices of the actors speaking on
screen weren't dubbed -- (those did have subtitles) -- but just the
narrator's voice, including the concluding words about the priest's
death. But now for the first time I saw the whole movie with
complete subtitles --- no voice-dubbing in English at all, and thus I
could hear Claude Laydu actually speaking even during the narration,
and his beautiful acting both in the sound of his voice as well as
his expressions. Now I want to try to find Les Dames du Bois de
Boulogne on videotape or DVD -- since I don't have it in my
collection. And also Pickpocket, which I love. What do any of of
you members of this group think is Bresson's finest black-and-white
film, by the way? I found the following review of "Diary" --
http://www.imagesjournal.com/2004/reviews/diary/text.htm - and
in it, the author Gary Morris states: "....And while it perhaps
lacks the unassailable brilliance of A Man Escaped, Pickpocket,
Balthazar, and Mouchette, the film is both a considerable formal
achievement and a crucial precursor of the modern cinema of
alienation." I wonder what he's referring to by "unassailable
brilliance". The cinematography? A sense of "refinement"?
Lighthandedness? One thing I loved in "Diary" is the way
occasionally a scene will gradually "fade" out, overlapping into the
beginning of the following scene, which imparts a poetic and loving
quality. And the occasional soft focus in the film reminds me of
Renoir's 1930's films. I'm wondering whether I should try to find
the Criterion DVD version. Is anyone familiar with it -- and how it
compares to the Kino Video tape? Any advice would be appreciated.
This might sound like heresy to some of the Bresson admirers in this
group but I just can't take a liking to Bresson's color films.. I
love all of his B/W feature films (including Les Anges du Peche).

----- Paul

(e-mail address.... forlino@...)