While their status as wildly inventive auteurs of the American independent arthouse may be almost entirely consolidated now as a result of their last few films, there was a time when Josh and Benny Safdie were two amateur filmmakers that weren’t particularly well-regarded, working in the deepest recesses of the mumblecore sub-genre. Their steady rise to acclaim has been a more recent development, only having taken place over the past few years – however, if we launch ourselves to the beginning of their career, we can still see the seeds of promise being liberally sewn. This takes the form of The Pleasure of Being Robbed, in which Josh Safdie acted as the sole director (with the participation of his brother not being clear, if it was at all even official), writing a screenplay with Eleonore Hendricks. Commissioned as an experimental hybrid between a film and promotional commercial for the Kate Spade fashion label, this film is a wild experience, taking the form of quaint dark comedy about a young woman with a penchant for stealing, to the point where it becomes second nature as she continuously acts on her impulses to take what is certainly not hers, and where not even the most stringent consequences can deter her. Safdie and Hendricks crafted an elegant and very funny film that constantly reminds one of how wonderful independent cinema can be when it allows young filmmakers the platform to tell stories in their own way, without having to worry about interference from anyone other than those directly involved in the production, leading to a tremendously funny and always very insightful independent comedy with as much heart as it has artistic integrity.

At the time of its release, one of the most significant criticisms of The Pleasure of Being Robbed was that it wasn’t particularly interesting, and that it is essentially just an hour of Safdie and Hendricks speaking a lot, but saying virtually nothing. Not only does such a sentiment disregard the entire genre of mumblecore, which was quite literally built on the premise of simple conversations that don’t particularly have any pre-defined destination, it is also incredible untrue, since this film has an abundance of fascinating ideas, granted the viewer has the time to look beneath the surface. Independent cinema is often not solely about telling a story, and that it is more than appropriate for such a film to exist to capture the spirit of a time and place. New York City is considered one of the most cinematic locations in the world, since it is a city of a million distinct stories – and The Pleasure of Being Robbed dares to tell just one of them, capturing the spirit of a young woman making her way through the mean streets of a town that has been known to swallow up anyone who does not have the fierce grit to face the challenges that come with this hostile territory. It may not make this abundantly clear in the sense that it explicitly states it, but it doesn’t change the fact that Safdie crafted this film to be a very potent love letter to the city in which he grew up and started his professional career. It may be extremely simple in scope as a result of its limited resources, but even through the low-budget aesthetic, we can feel how this city is constructed as a living, breathing entity.

There’s a certain quality to The Pleasure of Being Robbed that conveys a very poetic way of capturing the most intricate details of existence, presented with stark and unforgiving simplicity. There is nowhere to hide in the world of this film – every interaction is frank and directly correlates with the underlying theme of individuality in a world that seems to scorn anyone who dares to deviate from this supposed righteous path. At the heart of this film is Hendricks’ performance, which is achingly beautiful in how incredibly simple it is – every frame of the film seems to adore her (which makes sense, considering she developed the character through co-writing the screenplay with Safdie), and while she may not have been a well-known professional actress at the time, having mostly worked in a few equally small independent films, she has such a captivating screen presence. There’s a raw quality to her performance that seems to only be glimpsed when a film is making use of a more inexperienced actor – and while it is undeniable that she has an abundance of talent, Safdie weaponizes her relatively obscurity to great effect, since it fits in perfectly with the very gritty aesthetic that drives the film. The naturalism of The Pleasure of Being Robbed is one of its most endearing qualities, and Hendricks carries this film all on her own, turning in a truly impressive performance that feels extremely lived-in and genuine, especially in comparison to similar works that are not nearly as successful when defining their lead characters and the situations they find themselves in.

Even if the viewer doesn’t have as strongly positive opinion as this, it’s difficult to deny that The Pleasure of Being Robbed features many of the more promising components that Safdie and his brother would explore in later films, bearing similar traits that tie this together with their later films. There’s an irreverent sense of humour that guides much of the story, redefining the story as less of a psychological thriller (which by all accounts we’d expect it to be, based on the premise), and more of an upbeat, sardonic dark comedy about a young woman finding her identity through engaging in acts of petty crime, not for any other reason than just to say that she was able to do it. This contrasts sharply with the very simple nature of the production – filmed mostly on-location in New York City, and with very sparse resources, there wasn’t not much space for extravagance, which Safdie exploits perfectly to his advantage. The guiding principle of most New York-based comedies is that one doesn’t need much, since the city itself is more than enough of a resource to make for a captivating film. The director uses this very well, constructing an elegant and very funny comedy that overcomes its forthright simplicity to be a remarkably entertaining comedy. It’s not particularly long, running at just over an hour, but it has depth – and we can easily see how he would grow from this production, whether be in terms of the gritty nature of the characters and their surroundings, or the offbeat sense of comedy that makes for such compelling viewing.

There’s not much to say about The Pleasure of Being Robbed outside of just remarking on what a delightfully bizarre piece of cinema it is, and how it challenges everything we would normally consider to be true about the medium and its storytelling process. It may be something of an acquired taste, rarely being anything particularly special in terms of the story (and when the centrepiece of your film is focused around stealing a car and learning to drive it, almost in real-time, you clearly did not have much interest in adhering to the status quo), but having such a revolutionary spirit. It’s tough to not fall in love with this film, granted we can get on Safdie’s wavelength, since it takes time and effort to fully decode exactly what this film was aiming to achieve. As a whole, this film represents the start of a very promising career, one that we can look back on fondly, since the director and his brother have flourished into a very promising pair of filmmakers with a distinct artistic voice, and a genuinely interesting approach to the creative process, which is perfectly encapsulated in every frame of The Pleasure of Being Robbed, and its peculiar but insightful sense of mystical, socially-charged humour.