#81: Pickpocket

Pickpocket (Bresson, 1959)

My viewing of Pickpocket had the unfortunate timing of coming about a month after I finished Crime and Punishment. Pickpocket borrows a few themes and character interactions directly from Crime and Punishment. Pickpocket is about a petty thief whereas Crime and Punishment is about a murderer, but the characters both give the same motives. They believe there are extraordinary people who aren't subject to the law. The interaction between him and the police officer is very similar to the interaction between Raskolinov and Porfiry in Crime and Punishment. The police officer points out that everybody believes they are one of those extraordinary men. As he hones his pickpocketing craft, it becomes more and more evident that his kleptomania is an addiction rather than a hobby or a means for gain. He can't resist it even when it's obviously not a good idea.

The heart of the film comes in his interaction with a woman whose father disowns her after she gets pregnant. (Which is another one of those cultural differences you notice when you're watching old movies. Women being abandoned by their families because they got pregnant before marraige.) She knows he's a hopeless addict, but she accepts him because he's the only one willing to stay with her. The few moments in the film with that character express the need for human connection in bleak times, no matter what the source of that connection.

Rating: **** / 5

It might have gotten half the fifth star if I hadn't seen it so soon after reading a book it borrowed ideas from.

59/101