L’argent
![L’argent](https://s3.amazonaws.com/criterion-production/films/f700b2d43d7829bc795538602dc4120c/Na4b95E94g2wpH1f7iNU4pZj74NWOZ_large.jpg)
In his ruthlessly clear-eyed final film, French master Robert Bresson pushed his unique blend of spiritual rumination and formal rigor to a new level of astringency. Transposing a Tolstoy novella to contemporary Paris, L’argent follows a counterfeit bill as it originates as a prop in a schoolboy prank, then circulates like a virus among the corrupt and the virtuous alike before landing with a young truck driver and leading him to incarceration and violence. With brutal economy, Bresson constructs his unforgiving vision of original sin out of starkly perceived details, rooting his characters in a dehumanizing material world that withholds any hope of transcendence.
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Press conference from the 1983 Cannes Film Festival
- “L’argent,” A to Z, a new video essay by film scholar James Quandt
- Trailer
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by critic Adrian Martin and a newly expanded 1983 interview with director Robert Bresson by critic Michel Ciment
New cover illustration by Isabella Morawetz
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Press conference from the 1983 Cannes Film Festival
- “L’argent,” A to Z, a new video essay by film scholar James Quandt
- Trailer
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by critic Adrian Martin and a newly expanded 1983 interview with director Robert Bresson by critic Michel Ciment
New cover illustration by Isabella Morawetz
![L’argent](https://s3.amazonaws.com/criterion-production/films/f700b2d43d7829bc795538602dc4120c/Na4b95E94g2wpH1f7iNU4pZj74NWOZ_large.jpg)
Cast
- Christian Patey
- Yvon
- Vincent Risterucci
- Lucien
- Caroline Lang
- Elise
- Sylvie van den Elsen
- Gray-haired woman
- Michel Briguet
- Gray-haired woman’s father
- Didier Baussy
- Owner of photography store
- Marc Ernest Fourneau
- Norbert
Credits
- Director
- Robert Bresson
- Written by
- Robert Bresson
- Based on the short story “Faux billet” by
- Leo Tolstoy
- Executive produced by
- Antoine Gannagé
- Cinematography by
- Pasqualino De Santis
- Cinematography by
- Emmanuel Machuel
- Film editing by
- Jean-Francois Naudon
- Production design by
- Pierre Guffroy
A scene from L’argent
![](https://criterion-production.s3.amazonaws.com/carousel-files/52b569202841731b533b4622b437551b.jpeg)
![](https://criterion-production.s3.amazonaws.com/carousel-files/41372988179361ae80a8a1982b8cb2c0.jpeg)