Au Hasard Balthazar (Criterion Collection)
by Robert Bresson
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anne Wiazemsky, Fran?ois Lafarge, Nathalie Joyaut, Philippe Asselin, Walter GreenDirector: Robert Bresson
Brand: Image Entertainment
Cinematographer: Ghislain Cloquet
Writer: Robert Bresson
Editor: Raymond Lamy
Producer: Mag Bodard
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: French (Original Language); English (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD-Video, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 95 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-06-14
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion
Movie Reviews of Au Hasard Balthazar (Criterion Collection)
Movie Review: Quelle Damage
Summary: 1 Stars
This "movie" has all the emotional maturity of a goth kid imagining his sad end while staring out the window on a rainy day and listening to the Cure.
Nobody smiles.
Nobody laughs.
Nobody is nice.
Nobody is redeemable.
Nothing good happens.
Everything tritely bad that can happen, happens.
Oh and there's a donkey too.
And nobody acts...except the donkey.
So critics who want to say "this is life" must be having a particularly grim life. Or more likely enjoy thinking they do.
But on top of all that, Bresson has all the ham-handed skills and technique of a first year film student. "I need to convey an idea. I will show that idea - have it remain static in the frame for an uncomfortable amount of time so that the very slow (donkeys?) can absorb it, then move on to my next plodding idea." It's hard to describe, and perhaps you would have had to have seen a large number of bad student projects to recognize the technique. But about an hour into the movie you are hoping that somebody involved can get out and give it a push - preferably down a very steep hill into a donkey-filled crevasse where sheep will devour it.
Summary of Au Hasard Balthazar (Criterion Collection)
A profound masterpiece from one of the most revered filmmakers in the history of cinema, director Robert Bresson's Au hasard Balthazar follows a much-abused donkey, Balthazar, whose life strangely parallels that of his owner, Marie. A beast of burden suffering the sins of man, Balthazar nevertheless nobly accepts his fate. Through Bresson's unconventional approach to composition, sound, and narrative, this seemingly simple story becomes a moving religious parable of purity and transcendence.Au hazard Balthazar can have a profoundly moving effect on those who are sensitive to its power. Like any film by Robert Bresson, it provokes widely different responses: Many critics have hailed it as a masterpiece, while others (as Pauline Kael observed) "may find it painstakingly tedious and offensively holy." It all depends on what the viewer brings to Bresson's seemingly simple tale of a donkey named Balthazar, who experiences kindness and cruelty as he is passed from owner to owner. Populated by a variety of sinners and saints alike, the film can be seen as a simple animal fable, as Balthazar suffers nobly at the hands of his handlers. Dig deeper into Bresson's art, however, and you're likely to find a very Catholic story with strong parallels to the life of Christ and his unbearable burden of the sins of mankind.
No matter how you approach the film, only the most cold-hearted viewer will be immune to Balthazar's fate. And if you're not sure what to make of it all, this superb Criterion DVD offers two essential bonus features to guide you toward a greater understanding of Bresson's approach to cinema: Film scholar and devoted "Bressonian" Donald Richie offers his astute observations in a 2004 video interview, and in an in-depth French TV appearance from 1966, Bresson talks at length about Au hazard Balthazar along with fellow directors Louis Malle and Jean-Luc Godard, and members of the film's cast and crew. This is a remarkable document from a bygone era, when "art film" was at its peak, and directors (especially French ones) were eager to discuss the intellectual significance of their work. Kudos to Criterion for including this archival gem of film appreciation. --Jeff Shannon
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