Pickpocket Man

[Trinh Livingston]

Pickpocketis a 1959 French film written and directed by Robert Bresson. It stars Martin LaSalle, who was a nonprofessional actor at the time, in the title role, and features Marika Green, Pierre Leymarie, and Jean Plgri in supporting roles. The film is generally considered to be one of Bresson's greatest films.[1]

Michel goes to a race at Longchamp Racecourse and takes some money from a woman's purse. He leaves the track confident he was not noticed, but is suddenly arrested. At the police station, the chief inspector releases him because it cannot be proven that he stole the money.

The next day, Michel goes to visit his sickly mother, who he has not seen in a month. Her neighbor, Jeanne, offers to let him into the apartment, but, instead, he gives her money to give to his mother and leaves. Michel goes to meet his friend Jacques at a bar and asks for help finding a job. He sees the chief inspector and Michel explains his theory that certain superior men should not be bound by the same laws as everyone else.

After spending a week in the subway picking pockets, Michel is caught, so he lies low for a few days. He notices a mysterious man lurking outside, but is interrupted when Jacques shows up with Jeanne, who tells Michel that his mother is ill. Michel sends Jacques to see his mother in his place and goes out to find the mysterious man. The man turns out to be a pickpocket, and he teaches Michel several new techniques.

When she is on her deathbed, Michel finally goes to see his mother. She says she is not worried about him and he says he is sure she will get better, but she dies soon after. Michel and the mysterious man begin to work together, and they eventually bring in a third man.

On a Sunday, Michel goes to a carnival with Jacques and Jeanne. While they are on a ride, he wanders off. Jacques finds him at his apartment cleaning himself up, having fallen during his escape from a man whose watch he stole. Michel asks if Jacques and Jeanne love each other, and Jacques leaves.

Michel and his two accomplices undertake coordinated pickpocketing sprees at crowded locations, and one day he gets to Gare de Lyon station and sees his accomplices being led away in handcuffs. He goes home, and the chief inspector comes by to tell him that, a month before he was arrested at the racetrack, Jeanne reported some money had been stolen from Michel's mother, but the complaint was withdrawn the next day. Deeming it unlikely Michel will turn his life around, the inspector indicates he is going to start watching Michel more closely.

Jeanne tells Michel that the police recently asked her to confirm his mother is the one who withdrew her complaint, which shows Michel that his mother knew he robbed her. Jeanne had not understood this, and Michel explains. Although she is appalled, she tearfully hugs him before he leaves and asks if he is going to run away before the inspector catches him, giving him the idea to do just that.

Michel spends two years in London "pulling off good jobs", but he blows all of his money gambling and on women and returns to Paris. He goes to see Jeanne and discovers she and Jacques had a child, who she is raising alone because she did not want to marry him. Michel offers to help her support the child by getting an honest job, and he does so. He is feeling good, but is drawn to a man reading the racing form and finds himself accompanying the man to Longchamp. Although suspicious when the man seems to win a bet he should have lost, Michel still tries to steal his money and is arrested, as the man is a plainclothes officer.

At first, Michel is mostly just upset he was caught. He cannot understand why Jeanne visits him in jail, but, after she does not come for three weeks, he finds his hands shaking as he reads a letter explaining that her child has been sick. When he sees her again, she seems lit up, and he realizes he loves her.

Bresson said Pickpocket "was written in three months and shot in the midst of crowds in a minimal amount of time."[2] The resulting disorder proved to be a challenge during shooting, but was sometimes used to the crew's advantage, as in the Gare de Lyon pickpocketing sequence.[3]

The French-Tunisian pickpocket Henri Kassagi acted as technical advisor on the film, as well as appearing as instructor and accomplice to the main character.[4] After Pickpocket, Kassagi's face and techniques were too well known for him to continue with his old trade, and he changed career to become a successful stage magician.[5]

Roger Ebert saw echoes of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment in Pickpocket, writing: "Bresson's Michel, like Dostoyevsky's hero Raskolnikov, needs money in order to realize his dreams, and sees no reason why some lackluster ordinary person should not be forced to supply it. The reasoning is immoral, but the characters claim special privileges above and beyond common morality. Michel, like the hero of Crime and Punishment, has a 'good woman' in his life, who trusts he will be able to redeem himself. ... She comes to Michel with the news that his mother is dying. Michel does not want to see his mother, but gives Jeanne money for her. Why does he avoid her? Bresson never supplies motives. We can only guess."[8] Additionally, in the film Michel gets caught up in a game of cat and mouse with a police inspector, much as Raskolnikov does in Dostoyevsky's novel.

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 46 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 9.0/10. The website's consensus reads: "Narratively spare and told with clockwork precision, Pickpocket is a carefully observed character study that packs an emotional wallop."[9]

Pickpocket has been paraphrased by other films, such as Leos Carax's Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991).[20] The Dardenne brothers' 2005 film L'Enfant has also been said to have been influenced by the film.[21] Christopher Nolan said he studied Pickpocket, along with Bresson's earlier film A Man Escaped, when making his 2017 film Dunkirk, to study how Bresson created suspense through details.[22]

Many tourists get indignant when pickpocketed or ripped off. If it happens to you, it's best to get over it quickly. You're rich and thieves aren't. You let your guard down and they grabbed your camera. It ruins your day and you have to buy a new one, while they sell it for a week's wages on their scale. It's wise to keep a material loss in perspective.

There probably aren't more thieves in Europe than in the US. We just notice them more because they target tourists. But remember, nearly all crimes suffered by tourists are nonviolent and avoidable. Be aware of the possible pitfalls of traveling, but relax and have fun. Limit your vulnerability rather than your travels.

Secure your bag, gadgets, and other valuables when you're out and about. Thieves want to quickly separate you from your valuables, so even a minor obstacle can be an effective deterrent. If you're sitting down to eat or rest, loop your day pack strap around your arm, leg, or chair leg. If you plan to sleep on a train (or anywhere in public), clip or fasten your pack or suitcase to the seat, the luggage rack, or yourself. Most zippers are lockable, and even a twist-tie, paper clip, or key ring is helpful to keep your bag zipped up tight. The point isn't to make your bag impenetrable, but harder to get into than the next guy's.

One way to minimize this risk is to keep valuable devices attached to you or your bag (this also reduces the chance of accidentally leaving something behind). For instance, a phone case/lanyard combo has a strap that you can loop around your chest or wrist, even when using your device. You can also use a lanyard to attach gadgets to your day pack (if there's no interior attachment point, feed straps through zipper pulls or a sturdy safety pin hooked to the inside of your bag).

Leave a clue for honest finders. Accidents happen, and even the most cautious traveler can leave something behind. Maximize your chances of getting it back by taping a tiny note with your email address or travel partner's phone number to any item you really don't want to lose, making it easy for a kind soul to return it. (For phones, you could use an "If Found, Please Return To" note as your lock screen, or tuck your business card inside the case.)

Use a Bluetooth tracker. If you're prone to leaving things behind, or just want to be extra careful, consider tucking an AirTag or other Bluetooth tracking device into your bag or attaching one to your phone.

But, I have been soloing dungeons for the sole purpose of pickpocket, to earn gold. Stockades is a good one for 24 - 30, you can do the whole thing in 10 minutes, then rinse and repeat. Then next up is Scarlet Monastery.

I doubt that. Private servers had more loot from pickpocketing compared to classic, I think people are using those numbers. But it would be nice if you could prove me wrong, then I would know what to farm!

This technique is very straightforward. It has long been established that violence is the fastest way to gain leverage. You may not listen to someone if they politely ask you for some extra change but you sure as hell will listen to someone if they point a gun at you.

Most of the time this technique happens in busy areas (like restaurant districts) where someone will ride up on a scooter or jump out of a truck and pull a gun on an unsuspecting tourist. They then demand their valuables and make a quick break for it.

In Amsterdam, a common example of this technique being used is where someone stands on a bridge which goes over a pedestrian walkway. When a victim walks by, the thief drops a substance on them that resembles bird droppings.

The third technique that I found involved both the most risk (for the pickpocketer) and the most skill. Most of these attempts take place in highly dense tourist attractions where people are uncharacteristically distracted by something.

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