Movie of the Week#2: The Ladies of the Bois de Boulogne (1945), Robert Bresson

The Ladies of the Bois de Boulogne (Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne, France, 1945). Directed by Robert Bresson. Written by Robert bresson & Jean Cocteau from the novel by Denis Diderot. cinematography by Philippe Agostini. Edited by jean feyte. Production design by Max Douy & robert lavallée. Costume design by GRÈS & Schiaparelli. Cast: paul bernard, maría casares, elina labourdette, lucienne bogaert, jean marchat, Yvette etiévant, marcel rouzé, bernard lajarrige.

Agnes (Labourdette), a young star of cabaret, can exchange the attractions of worldly life that dissatisfy her for a dignified life with her mother (Bogaert), in the care of the aristocrat Helene (Casarés). Living now prisoners in their new house, next to the Boulogne Grove, they meet the same day Helene and the friend Jacques (Marchat), who falls madly in love, at first sight, by Agnes. Ready to conquer her at all costs, he suffers refusals in a row, which only burn his desire even more, to the point of not thinking about anything else in life. Drawing on the help of former lover Helene, he is advised by her, initially, to leave them in peace. However, soon Helene combines with Jacques a lunch, with the presence of mother and daughter. Determined to reassure her independence, now that she no longer feels like a puppet in Helene's hands, Agnes tries to return to her former profession. On a secret visit, which Agnes's mother allows only for her to be absent, Jacques delights in the objects of daily use of his beloved and the photos of her childhood - the mother quickly hiding her photos as a cabaret star. Afflicted by the dilemma between accepting to marry Jacques and the fear that he is aware of her libertine past, Agnes will finally accept the marriage. But immediately after the ceremony, she does not have the strength to face the social cycle of Jacques. On the other hand, Helene, trying to avenge the rejection suffered, tells the whole truth to Jacques. After suffering repeated syncopations and between life and death, Agnes says that as there are decent women who are lost, so is the opposite, as in her case, and asks her husband for a chance to recreate her life, and is readily accepted.

Even considered a film apart in the filmography of Bresson, both for the use of professional actors and for a less rigor in asceticism that is peculiar to the dramaturgy of the same, yet the film is remarkably sober and modern when compared to the melodramas produced at the time. This is not surprising since in terms of content it ends up reproducing the moralizing essence of Diderot's work without further delay, which implies the expiatory via crucis that Agnes has to pass through until her later redemption and resurgence as a probe woman. Notice at all times the short range of depth of focus, which only highlights the characters in the foreground. The final scene, extremely poetic in its ambiguity, as well as the good use of the plot devised by Helene, probably owe much to Jean Cocteau,  who wrote the dialogues. An ironic view of a woman's transition from worldliness to the world of social respectability can be seen, for example, in Fassbinder's Lola (1981).

Postada originalmente em português em 21/06/2016.