The story of a mistreated donkey and the people around him. A study on saintliness and a sister piece to Bresson's Mouchette. Robert Bresson's acclaimed Au Hasard, Balthazar presents an unfettered view of human cruelty, suffering and injustice, filtered through the eyes of a donkey over the course of his long life. The burro at the film's center begins life peacefully and happily, as the unnamed play-object of some innocent children in bucolic France, but his circumstances change dramatically when he becomes the property of a young woman named Marie - who christens him Balthazar. As she grows up and encounters tragedy and heartbreak, so does Balthazar; he passes from owner to owner, who treat him in a variety of ways, from compassionately to cruelly. The donkey, of course, lacks the capacity to comprehend the motivations of each individual but accepts whatever treatment (and role) is handed him, nobly and admirably. Bresson ultimately uses the story as a heart-rending allegorical commentary on human spiritual transcendence

Keywords

• Fien Troch's favoriete films
• Laura Wandel’s favourite films
• Nouvelle Vague

Actors

• Philippe Asselin
• Jean-Claude Guilbert
• Anne Wiazemsky
• François Sullerot
• Pierre Klossowski
• Walter Green
• Marie-Claude Frémont
• Nathalie Joyaut
• François Lafarge
• Jean Remignard

Director

• Robert Bresson