Monday, April 4, 2011

Angels of the Streets (1943)

Angels of the Streets / Les anges du péché (1943)
Angels of the Streets / Les anges du péché (1943)

Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Bresson
Starring: Renée Faure, Jany Holt
Duration: 96 min.
Rating: 7.6/10

Summary:
A well-off young woman decides to join a convent that rehabilitates female prisoners.  Through their program, she meets a woman named Thérèse who refuses any help because she says she is innocent.  After her release from prison, Thérèse murders the actual perpetrator of the crime and comes to seek sanctuary in the convent.

No Trailer

IMDB
Wikipedia

Angels of the Streets is the first feature film directed by legendary filmmaker Robert Bresson and was made following a year spent in captivity during the Nazi occupation of France.  It is a simple yet fascinating story, based on a real convent dedicated to serving prisoners and outcast women.  This is a straight forward picture, and one of only two films where he employed professional actors.

The recently restored version by the French Film Archives looks quite amazing for a film so old.  Providing us a fine example to witness the beginnings of Bresson's trademark minimalist style.            
     
Angels of the Streets / Les anges du péché (1943)

Angels of the Streets / Les anges du péché (1943)

Angels of the Streets / Les anges du péché (1943)

Angels of the Streets / Les anges du péché (1943)

Angels of the Streets / Les anges du péché (1943)

Angels of the Streets / Les anges du péché (1943)

Angels of the Streets / Les anges du péché (1943)

Angels of the Streets / Les anges du péché (1943)

8 comments:

Moviemonstrosity said...

" It would bore the shit out of me" would be my first reaction. Alas, i might try if i can pass the 15 minute mark

The angry Lurker said...

Sounds like a good movie with a good story of revenge.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Haha. While not exactly action packed, this one actually moves at a quicker pace than you would expect.

Meandmythinkingcap said...

all the pretty ladies become nun and all the ugly ones are single and available in bars

Adalmin said...

This reminds me of Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. I really like the innate conflict of the setup though...nuns and prisoners, that's a metaphor you can mine forever.

Beasts in Human Skin said...

This totally sounds like it could be a nunsploitation movie from my blog. I guess they took the high road...

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Yeah, if you only read the summary it does sound like the premise to a nunsploitation flick.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

I think the only similarity they share is the wrongful imprisonment part.

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