Perhaps the Devil

Perhaps the Devil - 2002-07-27. Director: Robert Bresson. Cast: Antoine Monnier, Tina Abriessari. Produced in France, 1977, color, 95 minutes. Bresson made 'Perhaps the Devil' in 1977, but the film did not reach America until 20 years later in 1997. 'Perhaps the Devil' is considered Bresson's last film and is described as a prophetic cry against a world that is rapidly descending into evil. The film begins with bold newspaper headlines reporting the suicide of a young man, then flashes back to depict the last days of a discontented and rebellious young man named Charles. He explicitly states that he does not want to be a useful and responsible being in a base and futile world. Charles is concerned about air pollution, environmental destruction, and the threat of nuclear explosion, and throughout the film, he encounters an underground revolutionary group, the church, love, and psychoanalysis in his search for peace and solace in life. Although the film is dark and bitter in a fatalistic manner, interspersed with documentary-like scenes of garbage dumps, the slaughter of marine animals, and nuclear explosions, 'Perhaps the Devil,' filmed in always-awake Paris, is an incredibly beautiful film filled with uplifting moments and fluid poetic imagery, such as a scene of a glowing boat on the Seine River and a beautiful montage of falling trees. However, many critics believe the most beautiful scene in the film is when Charles, desperate and hopeless on his path to death, stops moving and listens to Mozart's music wafting from a window. This is a work by a skilled and masterful artist who, at seventy, still connected with the realms of youth and understood his fears and hopes, and the subject of addressing the issues and problems of youth never becomes outdated, as it remains relevant even in our own time. In a world increasingly faced with chemical, nuclear, and terrorist threats, it seems today that this film was years ahead of its time.