The Devil Probably

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The Devil Probably
Directed by Robert Bresson
Written by Robert Bresson
Produced by Stéphane Tchalgadjieff
Starring Antoine Monnier
Tina Irissari
Henri de Maublanc
Laetitia Carcano
Nicolas Deguy
Régis Hanrion
Cinematography Pasqualino De Santis
Music by Philippe Sarde
Release date
15 June 1977
Running time
95 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench

The Devil Probably (French : Le Diable probablement), also spelled The Devil, Probably is a 1977 French drama film by director Robert Bresson. It was entered into the 27th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear - Special Jury Prize. [1]

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German film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder was on that particular jury, and championed Bresson's film:

Robert Bresson's Le Diable probablement ... is the most shattering film I've seen this Berlin Festival. I think it's a major film [...]. [I]n the future—and this world will probably last for another few thousand years—this film will be more important than all the rubbish which is now considered important but which never really goes deep enough[.] The questions Bresson asks will never be unimportant."[ citation needed ]

Fassbinder would go on to include the film in his 1979 film Die Dritte Generation, [2] where a character remarks that it is "a sad movie", but "so long as the movies are sad, our lives can stay funny".

The critic J. Hoberman described the movie with one sentence: "A Dostoyevskian story of a tormented soul, presented in the stylized manner of a medieval illumination." [3] Richard Hell described the movie as "by far the most punk movie ever." [4]

The Devil Probably was Bresson's penultimate work, preceding his 1983 film L'Argent .

For those under eighteen, the film was banned in France upon release because of its suicidal themes. [5] [6]

Cast

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References

  1. "Berlinale 1977: Prize Winners". Berlinale.de. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
  2. "Kino: Rainer Werner Fassbinders "Die dritte Generation"". Die Zeit. No. 38. 14 September 1979. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  3. Hoberman, J. "A Masterpiece, Most Likely: Hoberman on Robert Bresson's "The Devil, Probably" | Artinfo". Artinfo. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  4. "BAMcinematek presents a week-long run of Bresson's The Devil, Probably in a new 35mm print". richardhell.com. March 30, 2012. Retrieved 2023-12-23.
  5. "The Devil, Probably". The Criterion Channel. Retrieved 2023-12-23.
  6. "The Devil, Probably". Cornell Cinema. Retrieved 2023-12-23.