L'Argent

In all his films, Bresson lets on that he doesn't hold man in high regard, a being driven by selfishness, greed and violence. This is also unequivocally clear in L'argent, his very last film, which tells a story of greed, loosely based on Leo Tolstoy's novella The Forged Coupon. In his Cannes award-winning drama, he lays out the chances of disastrous consequences when people start scamming and hustling. Yet again, he worked with non-professional actors.

Norbert, a young man, asks his parents for an extra allowance, but his request is denied. A friend provides him with a forged 500-franc note. He takes it to a photo shop and uses it to buy a small item. At the shop, the counterfeit is soon discovered and used to pay the hard-working fuel supplier Yvon to get rid of it quickly. When Yvon, in all innocence, tries to spend the money, things go wrong.