A forged banknote leads to a tragic chain of events in Robert Bresson’s late masterpiece

This energetic, enigmatic indictment of capitalism is a late masterpiece by Robert Bresson, imbued with a fierce cinematic power and tautly positioned amid the coldly structured complexities of human behaviour.

Adapted from a novella by Leo Tolstoy, Bresson’s portrait of an ordinary man driven to evermore extreme crimes by social and financial forces beyond his control probes uncomfortably beneath the surface of ‘civilised’ society. This compact, rigorously stylised film and the awkward questions it poses, about the nature of forgiveness and the possibility of redemption, is a rich testament to one of cinema’s greatest auteurs.

• Restored from the original negative and presented in High Definition
• Style, Anti-style and Influence (2022, 22 mins): an on-stage discussion between Geoff Andrew, Jonathan Hourigan and Nasreen Munni Kabir on the films of Robert Bresson. Filmed at BFI Southbank
• Looking at L’Argent (2022, 9 mins): Jonathan Hourigan, former assistant to Robert Bresson, introduces and examines two clips from L’Argent
• The Root of All Evil (2022, 19 mins): writer Michael Brooke considers Bresson’s late masterpiece in this newly commissioned video essay
• Jonathan Hourigan on L’Argent (2007, 27 mins, audio only): the film scholar – who assisted in the making of L’Argent – speaks about the production
• Value For Money (1970, 22 mins) David Blest’s dreamlike, experimental short film, featuring Quentin Crisp, visualises coin-operated connections between money and religion
• Theatrical trailer
• **FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Illustrated booklet with new essays by Dr Martin Hall and Jonathan Hourigan, an original review and full film credits