The film could have sunk beneath this symbolic burden, yet it is lightened by the speed and precision of Bresson's art; he could derive more from one pair of hands than most directors can from two hours of blood and guts.
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Au Hasard Balthazar
Overview
The story of a donkey Balthazar as he is passed from owner to owner, some kind and some cruel but all with motivations beyond his understanding. Balthazar, whose life parallels that of his first keeper, Marie, is truly a beast of burden, suffering the sins of humankind. But despite his powerlessness, he accepts his fate nobly.
Director and cast
- Robert Bresson Director
- Anne Wiazemsky as Marie
- Walter Green as Jacques
- François Lafarge as Gérard
- Jean-Claude Guilbert as Arnold
- Philippe Asselin as Marie's father
- Pierre Klossowski as Merchant
- Nathalie Joyaut as Marie's Mother
- Marie-Claire Fremont as Baker's Wife
- Jean-Joël Barbier as The Priest
- Flávio Bolsonaro Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
Perhaps the greatest and most revolutionary of Bresson's films, Balthazar is a difficult but transcendently rewarding experience, never to be missed.
No film I have ever seen has come so close to convulsing my entire being as has Au Hasard Balthazar.
The film is perhaps the director's most perfectly realised, and certainly his most moving.
This is neither an easy film, nor, in the show biz sense, an entertaining one. It makes large demands upon its audience, and in return confers exceptional rewards.
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