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Au Hasard Balthazar
(1966)
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Title: Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
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Anne Wiazemsky | ... |
Marie
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Walter Green | ... |
Jacques
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François Lafarge | ... |
Gérard
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Jean-Claude Guilbert | ... |
Arnold
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Philippe Asselin | ... |
Marie's father
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Pierre Klossowski | ... |
Merchant
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Nathalie Joyaut | ... |
Marie's mother
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Marie-Claire Fremont | ... |
Baker's wife
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Jean-Joël Barbier | ... |
The Priest
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Guy Renault |
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Jean Rémignard | ... |
Notary
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Guy Brejac |
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Mylène Weyergans |
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Jacques Sorbets | ... |
Police Officer
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François Sullerot | ... |
Baker
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
The sad life and death of Balthazar, a donkey, from an idyllic childhood surrounded by loving children, through adulthood as a downtrodden beast of burden. His life is paralleled with that of the girl who named him, and as she is humiliated by her sadistic lover, so he is beaten by his owner. But he finds a kind of peace when he is employed by an old miller who thinks he is a reincarnated saint... Written by Michael Brooke <michael@everyman.demon.co.uk>
Parents Guide:
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Details
Release Date:
25 May 1966 (France) See more »Also Known As:
Balthazar See more »Filming Locations:
Guyancourt, Yvelines, FranceBox Office
Opening Weekend:
$8,325 (USA) (17 October 2003)Gross:
$39,388 (USA) (12 December 2003)Company Credits
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Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1
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[Marie's father turns away]
Priest: You must forgive. Everyone. Much will be forgiven you. You have suffered.
Marie's father: I may suffer less than you think.
Priest: [Reading] God does not foresake forever. He may punish, yet he will have compassion. H does not willingly afflict the children of men.
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
The main actress of this movie, Anne Wiazemsky, also became an author; in her book "Jeune Fille", she describes the making of the movie. See more »Goofs
The "for Sale" sign that is on the fence when Balthazar runs through the gate is different to the one seen in close-up. Also, when he runs through the gate, the sign is in shadow but in close-up it is in full sun. See more »Quotes
Marie's mother: He is in despair. Comfort him.[Marie's father turns away]
Priest: You must forgive. Everyone. Much will be forgiven you. You have suffered.
Marie's father: I may suffer less than you think.
Priest: [Reading] God does not foresake forever. He may punish, yet he will have compassion. H does not willingly afflict the children of men.
See more »
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.