Described by critic Roger Ebert as a 'heartbreaking prayer', Bresson's complex contemporary parable chronicles the life of a donkey up until his death amidst a field of sheep during a smuggling expedition. We see him passed from owner to owner and witness several instances of human failing and corruption but Bresson, like Ozu before him, never judges his characters and leaves the audience to make up their own minds..
It's a bit boring and preachy, and sometimes exceedingly precious but it runs genuine and smoothly as a good rural book read by a French old woman maid. Town Musicians of Bremen is the joyous donkey though. Quelle horreur! Quelle horreur!
Bresson, I imagine, must've been a really weird dude. The portrayal or the girl was kind of meh, but Bresson's style is as brilliant as ever.
He wasn't weird. He was a serious man, and a painter. The donkey is Jeebus and the girl is washing his feet. After four-footed dead, the girls eats donkey salami at dinner and transubstantiates it into fish and then because she's very thirsty (fish is salty) transmutes into wine. Of course, in the beginning she starts to cry, and then divines water. A little hiccup now and then. The portrayal is a bit surreal, but Bresson's style is as brilliant as ever.
The cinematography is quite good. The visuals of the film are quite well planned, and one can see why Bresson called his actors models. They stand there with him in complete control. However, the story was confusing. There are several moments where the storytelling is quite objective, and one does not learn why or how the characters are acting or reacting in the way they are. It can be frustrating, but c'est la vie.
An allegorical, symbolic, spiritual representation of life affirming attitude towards suffering. We should learn more from this donkey. Oh, and Klossowski's appearance in this movie is somewhat hilariously brilliant.
Brilliant film. The donkey's life can also be seen as a symbolic representation of Christ's life.
There is more to Bresson than Au Hasard Balthazar. It's overrated. Jean-Luc Godard should watch more Bresson!
I viewed this on a day during which my personal life was filled with difficulty, angst, and an utterly weary boredom -- ennui, to be precise. I suppose, then, it was genuinely impressive to see a film that could reflect those feelings perfectly. Reflect them and amplify them with utter fatalism. It's a good movie, and legitimately difficult to watch on those days when life itself is fatiguing.
I've heard it said, but had never actually seen someone light a fire under a donkey's ass.
My heart goes to the Donkey (Balthazar) and he acted very well too, shame on the human actors... hahahaha
There are remarks on how bland, how one dimensional the characters all are. What Bresson has done here is an exception, he does not resort to close-up cute shots of the donkey, instead, he draws our attention away from the characters, in doing so we realise that the donkey is pure.
I agree with New Mind -- a very Catholic focus on suffering. Recognized this immediately, as well as the general feeling of empathy the film elicited from me for the suffering that creatures experience in life. I would say that Bresson has a very clear focus on how he wants to use film as an expressive medium, that he is not so much austere as efficient.
Love the donkey, hate the acting. Bresson's approach is so disgustingly egocentric, it's hard for me to get beyond it, and I'm not convinced there's much there if I do. I'd rather watch a Bergman. Though I do like that donkey...
The more I think about it, the more I realize this is possibly the greatest film I've seen.
I've been very late in discovering this poetic, philosophical masterpiece. Bresson shows the whole life in 95 minutes, life of all mankind, which is tied with pain and misery. The key point is the parallel life of the Balthazar and Marie. We're all like Balthazar, we live in pain, but the difference between us and a donkey is that animals don't complain or try to seek the reasons behind everything. The reasons are beyond them, so they just carry on in their lives while we think we can have control on our lives. The only thing we can do is to realize it's more or less the same for everyone. Although Au Hassard Balthazar is heavily influenced by catholicism point of view, and I don't agree with it totally, but this is an absolute masterpiece. Donkeys go to heaven too, by the way. The ending scene is among the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen. Balthazar dying among a horde of ships... Back to innocence because of the pain it endured in life and paid for its sins? Maybe. I just know this fantastic experience left me in tears.
Maybe I needed to grow up a little bit to enjoy this as much as I did during my last viewing. I had watched it once 2 years ago and was getting to the point of frustration out of boredom. Tastes change with age, though. Regardless of age, Bresson is obviously not for everyone, but I'm beginning to understand why he is so celebrated. This is my new favorite cinematic spiritual journey, besides Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.
damn, it looks like bresson opinion about film which is a "fusion between painting and music" become much more truer in my eyes. I just can't get that last image of Balthazar and Sonata 20 of schubert that accompanied it out of my head now.,the lame acting and choppy edting? well that didn't stay in my head for too long
