Friday Night Flicks: L' Argent
I’ve never read Tolstoy. And despite his firmly cemented status as one of the best to ever put quill to scroll, I probably never will.
Believe me, this has nothing to do with pride; I’m just lazy. In all honesty, I have neither the desire nor the mental fortitude required to take on 800+ pages of 19th century aristocratic Russian drama - not now, at least. I have Succession to satiate that need in my life.
I can, however, stomach the films of Robert Bresson. So when I found out that the last film he ever directed (and his personal favorite!) was an adaption of a Tolstoy novella, I knew I’d finally found my “in.”
Bresson’s filmography has always been approachable, in every regard. Aesthetically speaking, he’s a bit of minimalist - see his book, Notes on the Cinematograph if you’re into that sort of thing. The film in question, L’argent, is based on one of Tolstoy’s shortest and most accessible works, the Forged Coupon, a novella that follows a single counterfeit bill as it switches hands in 19th century Russia, and traces the worsening chain of events that ensue as a result. It’s a study of fate, morality, and the law, especially as these things pertains to chance. How guilty are the guilty if they don’t know they’re guilty? Does the pawn deserve the same punishment as the king? Who’s moving the pieces? That sort of thing. Watch it below. —Jackson Todd
