Au Hasard Balthazar
1966
Traces the life of a donkey, christened Balthazar by children. Throughout his life he is owned by many of the locals, who treat him with varying degrees of kindness. Whatever his task, Balthazar accepts his fate of living a life over which he has no control. Read more
| Starring | Anne Wiazemsky, Philippe Asselin |
|---|---|
| Director | Robert Bresson |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
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Au Hasard Balthazar
Traces the life of a donkey, christened Balthazar by children. Throughout his life he is owned by many of the locals, who treat him with varying degrees of kindness. Whatever his task, Balthazar accepts his fate of living a life over which he has no control.
| Starring | Anne Wiazemsky, Philippe Asselin |
|---|---|
| Director | Robert Bresson |
| Studio | NOUVEAUX PICTURES |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 31 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
| Language | French |
| Subtitles | English |
| Released | DVD: 22 Nov 2004 Production year: 1966 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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This extraordinary film by director Robert Bresson tells the story of a donkey named Balthazar, who is, at various times, an adored children's playmate, a circus performer and a harsh mill owner's slave. Finally, and fatefully, he carries smugglers' contraband over the mountains. The film is clearly a religious parable, with the donkey — like Jesus — taking the sins of the world upon his back. It is also one of the great masterpieces of world cinema: austere, warm, grim, surreal, shocking and heartbreaking.
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Animal as saint: Bresson's stark, enigmatic parable, a donkey (named after one of the Three Wise Men) is both a witness... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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24 out of 27 people found this review helpful
Oh dear oh dear
I came to this film with high hopes from the reviews on this site... what a disappointment... I'm sure it was multi-layered and crafted etc... but what we saw was yet again, a 'typical French film' with long lingering looks, total bafflement as to what was going on so therefore I was so let down... I had my tissues at the ready because being an animal lover, I understood that Balthazar would be getting it in the neck at some point!! gave up after 15 minutes... my husband lasted 5 and said that 'going to clean his teeth was preferable to watching'!! quelle damage....
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Most recent members' review
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9 out of 10 people found this review helpful
Sanctuary
At the end of this film we concluded that the only character with credibility was the donkey. The characters played by the actors each carried a flaw that stretched beyond the bounds of credibility, that in the end was the undoing of each. Apart that is from the ante hero, who never did get his come uppance, thereby depriving us of even that small crumb of satisfaction. We found it too difficult to understand who each character was in relation to each other, and as with many of the situations Balthazar found himself in, the final denoument seemed to be random and without explanation. It's not every day you can say you are going home to watch a French film about a donkey. Having seen this, it's just as well!
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Au Hasard Balthazar
Traces the life of a donkey, christened Balthazar by children. Throughout his life he is owned by many of the locals, who treat him with varying degrees of kindness. Whatever his task, Balthazar accepts his fate of living a life over which he has no control....
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