Copyright by James Michael Churchill 2020 The Thesis Committee for James Michael Churchill Certifies that this is the approved version of the following Thesis: Zen and the Art of Minimalist Maintenance: Eastern Philosophy in the Cinematic Method of Robert Bresson APPROVED BY SUPERVISING COMMITTEE: Charles Ramirez-Berg, Supervisor Thomas G. Schatz Zen and the Art of Minimalist Maintenance: Eastern Philosophy in the Cinematic Method of Robert Bresson by James Michael Churchill Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts The University of Texas at Austin May 2020 Abstract Zen and the Art of Minimalist Maintenance: Eastern Philosophy in the Cinematic Method of Robert Bresson James Michael Churchill, MA The University of Texas at Austin, 2020 Supervisor: Charles Ramirez-Berg This study examines the presence of Zen Buddhism in Robert Bresson’s unique method of film construction. I argue that Bresson’s minimalist choices regarding film form and his emphasis on sensory experience at the expense of intellectual analysis overlap significantly with Zen. In addition, I explore Bresson’s unique theory of film acting and discuss the parallels between his idea of the actor-as-model and the process of transcending the self through Zen meditation. The aim of this thesis is to open the door to a new approach to film studies: a method that highlights direct experience and the achievement of a meditative state as opposed to the Western tradition of critical thinking and conceptual analysis. iv Table of Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................... vii Introduction: Zen Meditation and Perceptual Transformation ............................................1 Definition of Terms ....................................................................................................5 The Western Mind and the Limits of the Intellect: Literature Review .......................6 The "A" Word: Can We Still Use It? ........................................................................12 Meditation and Decontextualization .........................................................................18 A New Method..........................................................................................................21 Chapter One: Cinema as Meditation—The Classic Films ................................................23 A Man Escaped (1956) .............................................................................................23 Au Hasard Balthazar (1966).....................................................................................33 Mouchette (1967) ......................................................................................................41 Maturation of Bresson’s Style: The Later Films ......................................................50 Chapter Two: Cinema as Meditation—The Later Films ...................................................51 Une Femme Douce (1969) ........................................................................................52 Lancelot du Lac (1974) .............................................................................................60 L’Argent (1983) ........................................................................................................69 Chapter Three: Zen Mind and Bressonian Acting .............................................................79 True Self and the Nature of Being ............................................................................80 A Man Escaped (1956) .............................................................................................83 Pickpocket (1959) .....................................................................................................88 Mouchette (1967) ......................................................................................................94 Au Hasard Balthazar (1966).....................................................................................99 v Models and Meditation ...........................................................................................103 Conclusion: From Tarkovsky to Tarr, Antonioni to Akerman—Topics for Further Research .....................................................................................................................105 Andrei Tarkovsky ...................................................................................................106 Béla Tarr .................................................................................................................111 Michelangelo Antonioni .........................................................................................115 Chantal Akerman ....................................................................................................118 Zen and Film Studies ..............................................................................................121 Susan Sontag and Against Interpretation ...............................................................122 The Democratization of the Art Film .....................................................................124 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................125 References ........................................................................................................................127 vi List of Figures Figure 1: Object transformation in A Man Escaped (1956) .........................................25 Figure 2: Isolated details in A Man Escaped (1956) ....................................................27 Figure 3: Collapsing the scene in Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) ..................................39 Figure 4: Cinematographic decontextualization in Mouchette (1967) .........................45 Figure 5: Minimalist style—the soap exchange in Une Femme Douce (1969) ...........55 Figure 6: Theme shots in Lancelot du Lac (1974) .......................................................66 Figure 7: Perceptual transformation of the ax in L'Argent (1983) ...............................76 Figure 8: The actor as model in A Man Escaped (1956) ..............................................85 Figure 9: The intelligence of hands—criminal team in Pickpocket (1959)..................92 Figure 10: Direction of models—Mouchette (1967) ......................................................97 Figure 11: The ideal model—Au Hasard Balthazar (1967) .........................................101 vii Introduction: Zen Meditation and Perceptual Transformation “The faculty of using my resources well diminishes when their number grows.” —Robert Bresson, Notes on the Cinematograph Bresson’s commitment to stylistic minimalism, manifested in his unique theories regarding film acting, editing, and cinematography, has made him a source of considerable study ever since the Cahiers du Cinéma critics began to champion his work in the 1950s. His eccentric notion of film realism, the idiosyncratic performances that he draws from his actors and actresses, and his disdain for the theatricality of the films of his contemporaries contribute to an instantly recognizable film style that has generated a substantial body of scholarship. A significant amount of this academic work examines Bresson’s films in relation to Jansenism, a branch of Catholicism that places a heavy emphasis on determinism. This critical trend is most likely the result of a scholarly desire to put what little biographical information that we have about Bresson to good use. We know that Bresson had a Jansenist background and considered himself Catholic (at least for a substantial portion of his life), and the fact that this is one of the few things that we know about him with relative certainty makes it a desirable lens through which to view his work. The convenience of this reading allows many critics to reduce his work to a single theoretical framework. Pinning the tail on Balthazar, many of Bresson’s admirers settle on Catholicism as a sufficient explanation of his cinematic universe. If such a claim sounds like overstatement, consider the following assertion from Kent Jones: “Bresson’s entire concept of the cinematographer and his models as opposed to the director and his actors is an integral part of his ‘Christian 1 universe’” (Jones, 2011, p. 518). As I hope to illustrate over the course of this analysis, Bresson’s approach to filmmaking, as well as the effect that his films have on the viewer, is more complex on this point than the scholarly literature would currently lead us to believe. Countless other scholars have foregrounded Catholicism as a theoretical framework for understanding Bresson. From Paul Schrader to René Prédal, Raymond Durgnat to Tony Pipolo, academics have consistently placed his films in relation to his religious beliefs. While this criticism is undoubtedly useful, I would argue that using Catholicism as the primary theoretical framework for analyzing Bresson’s cinematographic method leads to an incomplete assessment of his work. As counterintuitive as it may first appear (given the explicitly Catholic subject matter of many of his films), I hope to prove that the unique cinematic style of Robert Bresson finds a strong philosophical correlative in the Far East, and that his unorthodox approach to film construction bears a striking resemblance to the core tenants of Zen Buddhism. Bresson shares with