Bresson would not give specific comments on how anyone performed in a take, and would instead ask for many takes (not to mention a *lot* of rehearsal before filming even commences). To equate that to not trying to influence the players in his films would be misguided, imo. The repetition of takes in itself is an influence (Kubrick used similar tactics). Repetition of a performance tends to drain emotion, but the emotion isn't necessarily gone (I've always seen it as internalized).Zot! wrote:My Bresson theory is but a distant memory, but I thought he specifically went to no lengths at all to influence his "models". Hence my snide comment.
As well, to watch a Bresson film, specifically for performances from actors (or "models", whatever your semantic preference), it would be hard to believe that those performances would be the same from a different director. The consistency in the performance styles throughout Bresson films strongly point to Bresson being the universal factor.