Der Teufel möglicherweise

I read recently that Richard Hell called this movie: "by far the most punk movie ever" and that was enough for me to check it out.

It's a French film (Le Diable probablement) from 1977. Director Robert Bresson takes an artsy, stylized approach that gives this movie a very languid feel. He lingers on shots longer than necessary and actors are often shot from the neck down. It's all very odd and a little unsettling.

When the film starts we see conflicting headlines. One that says a young man named Charles had committed suicide. Another says that same young man was murdered. We then jump back six months and meet Charles, troubled and apathetic, who is contemplating suicide. He finds life meaningless and gets no joy from anything, including trysts with two young ladies. When he confides to his therapist that he's having trouble killing himself the guy (for some insane reason) tells Charles that the Romans used to hire someone to do it for them. Charles then enlists his drug dealer and, well, you can guess the rest.

The best part about this movie was the writing. There isn't a lot of dialogue (there are a lot of long drawn out scenes with little to know speaking) but what there is if very good. Lines like: "Charity degrades donor as much as the recipient" and "My illness is seeing too clearly" made this movie worth while. I still wouldn't rave about it like Hell, but I can see the attraction for an ex-punk rocker turned poet.

7 out of 10 stars from me.