Mouchette, a young girl probably about 13, like the donkey in Bresson's Au Hasard Balthazar is the central character who bears the weight of the sins of the world (the reader can figure out the metaphor). Each other character's needs and unconscious drives are transferred onto the relentless sufferings of this youth. I found the film painful to watch but that's Bresson and Bresson does it with intent which is why he possibly is the only true artist as filmmaker. All other directors have some entertainment quality to their work. Also, don't miss the theme of every good deed has it's opposite built-in, an ongoing device used by Bresson. A shopkeeper providing a grieving child a free breakfast turns into a schemer. An epileptic drunkard turns into, well I won't spoil it for you.
Review of Mouchette
