The Devil Probably

1977 French film by Robert Bresson

The Devil Probably

Theatrical release poster

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
Edited by| Germaine Lamy
Music by| Philippe Sarde

Production
company

Sunchild GMF/Michel Chanderli

Distributed by| Gaumont Distribution

Release date

* 15 June 1977 (1977-06-15)

Running time

| 95 minutes
Country| France
Language| French

The Devil Probably (French: Le Diable probablement), also spelled The Devil, Probably, is a 1977 French drama film directed by Robert Bresson. It was entered into the 27th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear - Special Jury Prize.[1] It was Bresson's penultimate work, preceding his 1983 film L'Argent.

## Plot

[edit]

The film opens with two contradictory newspaper headlines informing us of Charles's death, shot in Père Lachaise Cemetery. Beginning six months previously, the remainder of the film examines the events leading up to this event, through flashbacks and the perspectives of those around him, especially his friends Michel, Alberte and Edwige.

Charles is a disillusioned student living in Paris. He is detached from society and struggles with a growing sense of alienation. The people around him, including his girlfriend Alberte and his others friends, do not understand his inner turmoil.

Charles finds no inspiration from left-wing politics or religion, nor from the work of his environmental activist friend, Michel. He finds a similar void in sex with Alberte and with another casual acquaintance. Psychoanalysis fails to repair his nihilistic outlook. He increasingly observes the world with a sense of unease and horror, and expresses a profound dissatisfaction with it.

He becomes more focused on the idea of suicide. During a discussion on a bus, a passenger asks "Who made this mockery of humanity? Who’s leading us by the nose?", and another replies "The devil probably", symbolising Charles's inner anguish and despair.

Finally, Charles makes an arrangement with his drug-addicted friend Valentin to end his life using a handgun.

## Cast

[edit]

* Antoine Monnier - Charles
* Tina Irissari - Alberte
* Henri de Maublanc - Michel
* Laetitia Carcano - Edwige
* Nicolas Deguy - Valentin
* Régis Hanrion - Dr. Mime
* Geoffroy Gaussen - bookseller
* Roger Honorat - police officer

## Production

[edit]

> "What impelled me to make this film is the mess we have made of everything. This mass civilisation in which the individual will soon no longer exist. This demented tampering with things. This immense demolition job in which we shall kill ourselves by trying to go on living. This incredible indifference shown by people, except for some of today’s youth who see things more clearly."

– Robert Bresson[2]

The film is only Bresson's second original script after Au hasard Balthazar.[3]

The commission which allocated advance funding to directors did not do so for Bresson, and the personal intervention of the Culture Minister, Michel Guy [fr], was required for it to be financed.[4]

The film was shot in Paris during the 1976 heatwave.[4]

## Reception

[edit]

Upon release, the film was banned in France for those aged under eighteen because of its suicidal themes.[5][3]

It shared the Silver Bear - Special Jury Prize with two minor films at the 27th Berlin International Film Festival, but only after German film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder and British film critic Derek Malcolm had threatened to leave the jury if their support for it for the top prize were not made public.[6] Fassbinder said:

> Robert Bresson's Le Diable Probablement  ... is the most shattering film I've seen in 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.[7]

Fassbinder would go on to refer to the film in his own 1979 film Die Dritte Generation,[8] 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 film with one sentence: "A Dostoyevskian story of a tormented soul, presented in the stylized manner of a medieval illumination."[9] Richard Hell described the film as "by far the most punk movie ever."[10]

The film was well-received among critics, currently holding a 85% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 20 reviews.[11]

## See also

[edit]

* List of French films of 1977

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Berlinale 1977: Prize Winners". Berlinale.de. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
2. ^ "The Devil, Probably". BFI Programme Notes. British Film Institute. 19 June 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
3. ^ a b "The Devil, Probably". Cornell Cinema. Cornell University. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
4. ^ a b Reader, Keith (2000). Robert Bresson. Manchester University Press. pp. 132–141\. ISBN 9-780719-053665.
5. ^ "The Devil, Probably". The Criterion Channel. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
6. ^ Quandt, Robert, ed. (30 June 1999). Robert Bresson (Cinematheque Ontario Monographs, No. 2). Toronto: Cinematheque Ontario. p. 550\. ISBN 978-0968296912.
7. ^ Thomsen, Christian Braad (1980). Rayns, Tony (ed.). "Fassbinder" (PDF). British Film Institute. p. 97. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
8. ^ "Kino: Rainer Werner Fassbinders "Die dritte Generation"". Die Zeit. No. 38\. 14 September 1979. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
9. ^ Hoberman, J. "A Masterpiece, Most Likely: Hoberman on Robert Bresson's "The Devil, Probably" | Artinfo". Artinfo. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
10. ^ "BAMcinematek presents a week-long run of Bresson's The Devil, Probably in a new 35mm print". richardhell.com. 30 March 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
11. ^ "The Devil, Probably". Rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 4 January 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* The Devil Probably at IMDb
* The Devil Probably at Rotten Tomatoes

* v
* t
* e

Robert Bresson

Films directed|

* Les affaires publiques (short, 1934)
* Angels of Sin (1943)
* Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945)
* Diary of a Country Priest (1951)
* A Man Escaped (1956)
* Pickpocket (1959)
* The Trial of Joan of Arc (1962)
* Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)
* Mouchette (1967)
* A Gentle Woman (1969)
* Four Nights of a Dreamer (1971)
* Lancelot du Lac (1974)
* The Devil Probably (1977)
* L'Argent (1983)

Miscellaneous|

* Bibliography
* Notes on the Cinematographer

* v
* t
* e

Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize

1965–2000|

* Le Bonheur / Repulsion (1965)
* The Chasers / No Shooting Time for Foxes (1966)
* La Collectionneuse / Next Year, Same Time (1967)
* Innocence Unprotected / Signs of Life / Something Like Love (1968)
* The Decameron (1971)
* The Hospital (1972)
* There's No Smoke Without Fire (1973)
* The Clockmaker (1974)
* The Common Man / Overlord (1975)
* Canoa: A Shameful Memory (1976)
* The Devil Probably (1977)
* The Fall (1978)
* Alexandria... Why? (1979)
* Seeking Asylum (1980)
* Akaler Shandhaney (1981)
* Shivers (1982)
* A Season in Hakkari (1983)
* Funny Dirty Little War (1984)
* Flowers of Reverie (1985)
* The Mass Is Ended (1986)
* The Sea and Poison (1987)
* Commissar (1988)
* Evening Bell (1989)
* The Asthenic Syndrome (1990)
* The Conviction / Satan (1991)
* Sweet Emma, Dear Böbe (1992)
* Arizona Dream (1993)
* Strawberry and Chocolate (1994)
* Smoke (1995)
* All Things Fair (1996)
* The River (1997)
* Wag the Dog (1998)
* Mifune (1999)
* The Road Home (2000)

2001–present|

* Beijing Bicycle (2001)
* Grill Point (2002)
* Adaptation (2003)
* Lost Embrace (2004)
* Peacock (2005)
* Offside / A Soap (2006)
* The Other (2007)
* Standard Operating Procedure (2008)
* Everyone Else / Gigante (2009)
* If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle (2010)
* The Turin Horse (2011)
* Just the Wind (2012)
* An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker (2013)
* The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
* The Club (2015)
* Death in Sarajevo (2016)
* Félicité (2017)
* Mug (2018)
* By the Grace of God (2019)
* Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)
* Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021)
* The Novelist's Film (2022)
* Afire (2023)
* A Traveler's Needs (2024)
* The Blue Trail (2025)

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