Bartleby

Bartleby is a 1976 French-British drama film directed by Maurice Ronet, adapted from Herman Melville's celebrated short story "Bartleby, the Scrivener". The cast is led by Michael Lonsdale, Maxence Mailfort and Maurice Biraud, with Dominique Zardi and Henri Attal also appearing.

The narrative follows a lawyer who hires a quiet new clerk for his office. Bartleby soon begins turning down every assignment with the calm reply that he would prefer not to, gradually withdrawing from all activity and contact. His employer's efforts to reason with, help or remove this immovable man lead to an increasingly strange and unsettling relationship between them.

The picture was initially planned as a television production but eventually received a theatrical release in 1978. Ronet relocates Melville's meditation on alienation and free will to a contemporary professional setting. The film runs for about 96 minutes.