The Pleasure of Being Robbed

I just saw this at a university screening. After reading the reviews here, I wanted to add my response, too.

I thought this film was really moving. I think it goes a little way toward helping a viewer recognize the wild grip he or she places on things or expectations, and what's more amazing is that the logic of the film allows it to do this almost solely through humor and with a light touch. Many moments in the film are not that far from Gogol's Dead Souls or Tati's Hulot in their liveliness and scope.

At the very least, I'd recommend it to a friend--a thoughtful and surprising film.

Perhaps I've watched too many 2000s Williamsburg hipster flicks lately, but this one was a real tedious experience. There's certainly something intriguing about the feeling of dull desolation that characters like her, Francis Ha, and the girl in Eternal Sunshine invoke. It's a sort of, life's not that bad, but it's not that good either - a feeling that many people can relate to, especially the Passion Pit stans of the aughts. That said, it's difficult to feel sympathy or even irritation with the characters in this movie. They're aloof, they're flighty, they're criminals in the most pedestrian sense. You don't feel a connection with the characters, and maybe that's the point: they're dull mundane version of living on the fringe is a greater story about the boring dystopia that is America and youth culture. Maybe. Though, like with Frances Ha, it reads a bit more like at some point in history this mentality was cool or edgy. Sort of a last celebration of shoplifting graphic tees from Zumiez and sneaking into the mall movie theatre: it seems like a big deal while you're doing it, doesn't really matter to anybody else..

You people just cant see the inner beauty of this film. Humanity can sometimes be a lonely thing. Eleanor (however you spell her name) appreciated everything she "stole". You could see the appreciation and connection she felt from the objects that she stole from other peoples lives. Hence the title of the film. Which is beautiful. And the cinematography was wonderful. The grain, the tightness of the shots, the cuts. I loved it. There really was no plot. It was mainly the character analysis that kept me watching. Just the spontaneity of her was so inspiring and I truly admire that. She was living and not just breathing. She was innocent as a child. Yes the things she did were not so innocent, but she had an innocence about her. There wasn't even any sex in the film just to further prove her innocence.

I saw this film at Cannes twice and I can't seem to either get away from it or get it out of my mind. I keep thinking about the surface nature of the main character Eleonore in the beginning and throughout. But what is crazy is she knows it.

It is not that she is annoying. I Think it is sad to see someone hide their true emotions. She smiles and you wonder why is she smiling, It is uncomfortable to be in the room. These are negative qualities and that is why they are on film (and yes beautiful 16 mm, finally!). They are just an exaggerated type of personality that forces us to see what we all sometimes fall victim too, too big a self-conscience.

She is a great thief, but she is not really stealing. She just wants to learn more about people because she is afraid, or unwilling, to say hello in a genuine way.

At times I didn't like her but so what? Film is not about feeling comfortable, it is about thinking about how you can change parts of yourself. When I didn't like her or what she is doing, I asked myself why? And that is what I liked. I liked also seeing the other people in New york who don't have her problem. Heck, there is a guy walking around saying how beautiful everything is. And wait, here we see her wonder what that life might be like. Also, when she listens to the trumpet playing, I Thought how sad, she realizes her faults. Sometimes you can't change them (Having been in therapy I should know, haha).

Thanks for showing me the pains of holding back, and the beauty of letting it out.

I stumbled upon this used DVD in a thrift store and knew nothing about it. It just caught my eye and something told me to buy it. I'm so very glad I did. Sometimes the stars align and miracles happen, and that's what it took for me to find out about this excellent little movie.

I was expecting it to be a micro-budget indie film with bad acting, and hoping for a few redeeming moments and a whole lot of charm, which is about the best you can ask for from that type of film (I thought). But I was blown away. Five minutes into the movie I realized I was watching something else entirely. I've never seen anything like it. I didn't know indie films could be made this well.

Everything about it is just perfect and far better than any attempt I have seen before. The cinematography is beautiful and the editing is very good, as it the acting, which surprised me the most. The actors here are all ones I'd never seen before, so no big stars, but they all did an excellent job (aside from a few moments of mediocre acting in some of the smaller roles).

Now let's get to the story. It's about a young woman in her twenties who lives in New York. We've seen it a hundred times, right? Nah, this woman happens to be a pickpocket. And for the first time ever, we get to watch a pickpocket going about her day. Some have argued that there's no plot, but wouldn't a plot just make it so boring? That's been done before! It's better just to watch the characters sometimes. This one is fascinating!

Everything was very well done for such a low-budget film, although I later found out that multimillionaires Andy and Kate Spade had something to do with this production. I believe that most of that money went to acquiring film stock, however, as this film was shot on good old film rather than digital, the latter being the preferred medium for films like this. But the film look really makes this all that much better, and really adds to the style and makes it look more legitimate while still maintaining wonderful raw and gritty feel.