Au hasard Balthazar (1966)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Robert Bresson

Writer:

Robert Bresson (writer)

Release Date:

25 May 1966 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

The story of a mistreated donkey and the people around him. A study on saintliness and a sister piece to Bresson's Mouchette.

Plot Keywords:

Burden | Donkey | Beast Of Burden | Transcendence | Purity

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Anne Wiazemsky	...	Marie
François Lafarge	...	Gerard
Philippe Asselin	...	Marie's father
Nathalie Joyaut	...	Marie's mother
Walter Green	...	Jacques
Jean-Claude Guilbert	...	Arnold
Pierre Klossowski	...	Merchant
François Sullerot	...	Baker
Marie-Claire Fremont	...	Baker's wife (as M.C. Fremont)
Jean Rémignard	...	Notary
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jean-Joël Barbier	...	The Priest
René Bazart
Guy Brejac
Isabelle de Winter
Roger Fjellstrom
Henri Fraisse
Sven Frostenson
Dominique Mounc
Tord Paag	...	Louis
José Ruiz Pernias
Isabelle Petit
Guy Renault
Gilles Sandier
Pascale Savornin
Jacques Sorbets	...	Police Officer
Mylène Weyergans

Also Known As:

Balthazar (USA)
Min vän Balthazar (Sweden)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

France | Sweden

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Iceland:L | Sweden:11 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Guyancourt, Yvelines, France

Company:

Argos Films

Trivia:

Balthazar was an untrained donkey during most of the filming, which made Bressons's work a real challenge. The only scene for which the donkey was trained was the circus math trick.

Quotes:

Gerard: Lend him to us.
Marie's mother: He's worked enough. He's old. He's all I have.
Gerard: Just for a day.
Marie's mother: Besides, he's a saint.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Marxist Poetry: The Making of 'The Battle of Algiers' (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Piano Sonata No.20

Robert Bresson was the saint

Bresson's finest work is the result of completely giving up, even the chance at freedom -- because freedom, as the donkey and the girl might have known, is an illusion of joyousness. We see a movie about suffering, of giving in to suffering because to fight it would make you as wrong as the people who are perpetrating the suffering.

Au Hasard, Balthazar is an inspiring reassurance of the existence of God by the lack of even the slightest miracle or good fortune. What is not seen, the saving grace, is made more real and believable in its absence. (This is what the real essence of the Catholic church once was {when it accurately recreated Christ's gift}and what illuminates Robert Bresson's personal spiritual path in the otherwise deeply perverted church of today).

The story, that of a donkey's life, is, on the surface, absurd. But what Bresson can bring to it through the patient austerity of his camera work, the martyr like surrender of his characters (including the donkey Balthazar), is as transcendent and enlightening as a private epiphany. What is amazing is that he is able to project so much depth into an audience so unsuspecting.

Finally, and perhaps what makes this film and all of Bresson's work so illuminating is that he had an unrelentingly objective film sensibility quite like that of Luis Bunuel. And because Bunuel was clearly an atheist, the fact that Bresson would be as naked as Bunuel and still move us is the proof that there was something to his faith.