The Devil, Probably

"Government's are short sighted."
"Don't blame governments, it's the masses who decide events."
"So who is that makes a mockery of humanity? Who's leading us by the nose?"
"The Devil, probably."

So goes an exchange on a bus in Robert Bresson's second to last film, and one of his least seen. In this he tackles the youth culture with a film that feels much like a Godard film, not so much stylistically, but in the characters and the overall feel. It's also his most overtly political film, but it's not a political film. It centers around a young, disaffected, 20-ish man in Paris who tragically learns the truth of the above exchange. In school he was involved in various left-wing groups and is an environmental activist, but this world is far from perfect, and is sadly, at least temporarily, under the Devil's dominion. He tries everything -- social activism, religion, psychoanalysis, drugs, but nothing seems to help him. He sees all too clearly that he is useless and that his life is meaningless. Basically, this is the most depressing Bresson film that I have seen.