Editing Robert Bresson (section)

==Personal life==
Bresson was born at [[Bromont-Lamothe]], [[Puy-de-Dôme]], the son of Marie-Élisabeth (née Clausels) and Léon Bresson.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/19/Robert-Bresson.html|title=Robert Bresson Biography (1907–1999)|website=filmreference.com|access-date=9 August 2018}}</ref> Little is known of his early life. He was educated at [[Lycée Lakanal]] in [[Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine]], close to Paris, and turned to painting after graduating.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/bresson.htm |title=Robert Bresson |website=Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi) |first=Petri |last=Liukkonen |publisher=[[Kuusankoski]] Public Library |location=Finland |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071027174733/http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/bresson.htm |archive-date=27 October 2007 }}</ref> Three formative influences in his early life are evident in his films: [[Catholicism]], art, and his experiences as a [[prisoner of war]]. Robert Bresson lived in [[Paris]], France, in the [[Île Saint-Louis]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Cardullo |first=Bert |date=2009 |title=Action!: Interviews with Directors from Classical Hollywood to Contemporary Iran (Anthem Film and Culture) |publisher=Anthem Press |page=265-298 |isbn=978-1843313120}}</ref>

Initially a photographer, Bresson made his first short film, ''[[Les affaires publiques]]'' (''Public Affairs'') in 1934. He enlisted in the [[French Army]] on the onset of [[World War II]] and was captured by the Germans in 1940 and held as a [[prisoner of war]] for more than a year;<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Bresson Robert Bresson, French director] ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''. Retrieved July 7, 2024.</ref> an experience which informed ''[[A Man Escaped]]''. In a career that spanned fifty years, Bresson made only 13 feature-length films. This reflects his painstaking approach to the filmmaking process and his non-commercial preoccupations. Difficulty finding funding for his projects was also a factor.

Bresson was sometimes accused of an uncompromising "[[ivory tower]] existence" outside of mainstream cinema.<ref>{{cite news |date=22 December 1999 |title=Robert Bresson |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/1999/dec/22/news.obituaries |access-date=10 August 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> Later in his life, he said that he had stopped watching other filmmakers' movies in theaters,<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Schrader |first=Paul |date=September-October 1977 |title=Robert Bresson, Probably |url=https://www.paulschrader.org/articles/pdf/1977-RobertBresson.pdf |journal=[[Film Comment]] |pages=26-30 |via=PaulSchrader.org}}</ref> although he later praised the James Bond film ''[[For Your Eyes Only (film)|For Your Eyes Only]]'' (1981), saying that "It filled me with wonder ... if I could have seen it twice in a row and again the next day, I would have."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alkhed |first=David |date=2020-08-14 |title=License to Review #12: For Your Eyes Only (1981) |url=https://afistfuloffilm.com/2020/08/14/license-to-review-12-for-your-eyes-only-1981/ |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=A Fistful of Film |language=en}}</ref> Critic [[Jonathan Rosenbaum]], an admirer of Bresson's work, argued that the filmmaker was "a mysterious, aloof figure", and wrote that on the set of ''[[Four Nights of a Dreamer]]'' (1971), where Rosenbaum was an extra, the director "seemed more isolated from his crew than any other filmmaker I've seen at work; his widow and onetime assistant director, Mylene van der Mersch, often conveyed his instructions."<ref>{{cite news |last=Rosenbaum |first=Jonathan |date=1 April 2004 |title=Defending Bresson |url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/defending-bresson/Content?oid=915048 |access-date=2 March 2017 |newspaper=Chicago Reader}}</ref>

Bresson died on 18 December 1999, at his home in [[Droue-sur-Drouette]], southwest of Paris. He was 98. He made his last film, {{Lang|fr|[[L'Argent (1983 film)|L'Argent]]}}, in 1983 and had been unwell for some time.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Riding |first1=Alan |date=22 December 1999 |title=Robert Bresson, Film Director, Dies at 98 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/22/movies/robert-bresson-film-director-dies-at-98.html |access-date=3 April 2020 |website=The New York Times}}</ref>