Robert Bresson (1901-1999) was a renowned French film director, whose work was characterized by his minimalist style and interest in actor (or character ) movement. Bresson directed thirteen films over forty years, including Au hasard Balthazar (1966), which is considered his masterpiece. Jonathan Griffin (1906-1990) was a translator, poet, and diplomat, who served as Director of BBC European Intelligence during World War Two. In addition to translating works by Robert Bresson, he translated Jean Giono novels, General de Gaulle's memoirs, and art criticism by Rene Huyghe. A collection of Griffin's poetry, In Earthlight, was published in 1995 by Menard Press.
The collection <i>Bresson on Bresson: Interviews 1943-1983</i> and Bresson's own <i>Notes on the Cinematograph</i> are primers for the gradual understanding of Robert Bresson, to paraphrase Gertrude Stein...Notes on the Cinematograph is the ultimate refinement of Bresson's thought, a loosely grouped succession of aphorisms and Zen koans. --J. Hoberman, <i>The New York Times</i> Half-philosophy, half-poetry, <i>Notes on the Cinema-to-graph</i> reads in places like <i>The Art of War</i> for filmmakers. --John Semley, <i>The A.V. Club</i> The power of Bresson's films lies in the fact that his purity and fastidiousness are at the same time an idea about life, about what Cocteau called 'inner style, ' about the most serious way of being human. --Susan Sontag Short, aphoristic fragments that guide Bresson's film making. Scribbed down as 'notes to self, ' reading them in whole is astonishing & inspiring, a totality of a brilliant filmmaker. --Mike Kitchell, <i>HTMLGiant</i>