Paris: Cahiers du cinema, 1986. Cahiers du cinéma. Collection Auteurs. ISBN [ ? ]

Sun & Moon Press, May 1997. Classics Series, No 124. 136 pages. ISBN 1557133654 (paperback)


[ True 1st Ed. Gallimard, 1975. – $700 collector's item ]
[ 1st English Ed. Urizen, 1977 – $300 collector's item ]

Czech Edition © Dauphin, 1998. ISBN 80-86019-68-3.

[ dustjacket flap | masthead ]

Published in 1989 in Kokkola, Finland, by the Cine Club Strangelove (Kokkolan Elokuvakerho Outolempi) in collaboration with the Institute Chydenius. 194 pages. ISBN 951-9053-36-0. ISSN 0358-0148.

This is what Film Critic Hannu Björkbacka told robert-bresson.com (see also our October 11, 2005 News update): "I was one of the people in Finland forming the Kokkolan Elokuvakerho Outolempi (Cine Club Strangelove) in the litte coastal city of Kokkola in the eighties. As part of our programme, we ran a week of Bresson films [ 1 | 2 ], and that gave us an idea of compiling a book of texts about Bresson into Finnish, because none was available at the time. So we found people to translate Paul Schrader's and Susan Sontag's essays on the subject plus other more recent writings. Then our Board Member, Mr. Pertti Hyttinen, sent a letter to Mr. Bresson (translated into French by our Chairman of the Board, Mrs. Outi Aimo-Koivisto) asking permission to translate and add his Notes sur le cinèmatographe (1975) into the book (to form its basis, of course)."

[ Photo by Finnish film critic Jaakko Tervasmäki | colofon | letter from Bresson to Editor ]

Three 1981 5" x 8" paperbacks, Three Screenplays: Volumes I, II, and III by Robert Bresson, translated by Leon Burch, published by Urizen Books. 1st Edition. Screenplay for Pickpocket 119 pages; screenplay for Diary of a Country Priest 164 pages; screenplay for A Man Escapes 215 pages.

1997 Cinémathèque française, ISBN 2-900596-18-1
[ contents 1 | contents 2 | page example | preface | references ] rear cover | colofon ]

New York: Praeger Publishers, 1970. Studio Vista, London, 1969. 144 pages. ISBN 289 79605 9.

The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc. (May 2003) 224 pages. ISBN: 0826414710 (h/c), ISBN: 0826416055 (p/b).

This excellent book introduces Bresson's work to a broader audience. In a straight-forward jargon-free way it goes through his films in chronological order, giving detailed plot summaries, and commenting on the films mainly by help of a great number of pertinent quotations from Bressons "Notes on the Cinematographer", as well as from various published interviews with him, and interviews with some of the actors in the films, together with quotations from books and articles by sharp-witted writers, such as e.g. Susan Sontag, illuminating various aspects of the directors unique style. Because of this the book is valuable also to those who are already to some extent familiar with Bressons work.

Published in 1962 as #8 in the Cinema d'aujourd'hui series from Editions Sehers. 223 pages, 6-1/4"x5-1/4".

Copyright 1986 by Associated University Presses, 440 Forsgate Drive Cranbury, N.J. 08512. 240 pages. ISBN 0-8386-3194-0.

From inside cover: "Following the Introduction are two long chapters devoted to the narrative analysis of two individual films -- an analysis of narrative structure in 'Une femme douce' and a chronological interpretation of 'Au hasard, Balthazar.' Three subsequent chapters focus on Bresson's innovative use of specific elements of style and structure in film: character presentation and acting style in 'Four Nights of a Dreamer,' Bresson's composition of sound and music in 'Mouchette,' and the intricate poetic design of voice and verse in the dialogue of 'Lancelot du Lac.' Each chapter also includes comparison of the particular film under discussion with the literary source on which it was based, analysis of the elements of continuity and disjunction in the narrative and editing processes, location of the narrator's voice in the film, description of allegorical aspects of the film, references to the earlier films of Bresson and to his writings, and still photographs. An interview with Antoine Monnier, the main actor in 'Le Diable probablement' appears in the Appendix."

BFI Publishing, 1999. 96 pages. ISBN 0 85170 733 5.

Boston, MA: G.K. Hall, 1983 231pp. ISBN: 0816185026.

Though somewhat out of date, a very in-depth collection of references on Bresson scholarship, reviews, etc. It has been augmented twice recently by Shmuel Ben-Gad in the Bulletin of Bibliography, in 1984 (with references from 1981-1993) and 2000 (with references from 1994-1998). An interesting and useful resources for scholars and fans of Bresson [Thanks to Nathan Mealey for info].

Indiana University Press. Cinematheque Ontario Monographs, No. 2. 624 pages. ISBN 0968296912 (paperback).

Manchester University Press, 2000. French Film Directors Series. 166 pages. ISBN 0 7190 5365 X (hardback). ISBN 0 7190 5366 8 (paperback).

University of California Press Berkeley, 1972. 194 pages. ISBN 0520020383 (hardcover), ISBN 0306803356 (paperback).