The story of a mistreated donkey and the people around him. A study on saintliness and a sister piece to Bresson's Mouchette.The story of a mistreated donkey and the people around him. A study on saintliness and a sister piece to Bresson's Mouchette.The story of a mistreated donkey and the people around him. A study on saintliness and a sister piece to Bresson's Mouchette.
- Awards
- 7 wins & 2 nominations
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBalthazar was an untrained donkey during most of the filming, which made Robert Bresson's work a real challenge. The only scene for which the donkey was trained was the circus math trick.
- GoofsIn the very last shot of the film the shadow of the camera man or someone else enters the picture from the bottom right.
- Quotes
Gerard: Lend him to us.
Marie's mother: He's worked enough. He's old. He's all I have.
Gerard: Just for a day.
Marie's mother: Besides, he's a saint.
- Alternate versionsRestored in 2014 from the original 35mm negative by the Éclair Group and L.E. Diapason.
- ConnectionsEdited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Seul le cinéma (1994)
- SoundtracksPiano Sonata No.20 in A Major, II. Andantino (D. 959)
Music by Franz Schubert
Performed by Jean-Joël Barbier
Featured review
Erratic and fatalistic tale with Christian overtones
Although I'm great admirer of this director's work, "Balthazar" is the one Bresson piece that I simply can't bring myself to like. The mechanical and monotonous uttering of text that works so well in "Pickpocket" and "Mouchette" just looks like bad acting on purpose here. If the camerawork of "Pickpocket" is easily as dexterous as its thieving protagonists, the motion of "Balthazar" is just about as stodgy as its central character - a young donkey. This donkey is being pushed around throughout the movie, and so is the audience with a number of fragmentary situations and the constant question of WHY the characters are doing whatever they are doing. Nothing is convincingly motivated here; things just turn to the worst as if this was a general rule of intellectual filmmaking. Another thing I strongly disliked about "Balthazar" is its overblown allegorical touch. The numerous religious implications do make sense, but they don't help the movie to become a more touching and a less strained affair. Bresson isn't Bergman, and a stronger accent on social topics instead of these biblical allusions would have made it more credible to me. Yes, there are very strong and even haunting moments in this movie, just as there are in any Bresson picture, and I admit I had wet eyes during the last scene, but I never came to care for it as much as I would have liked to. However, other people in the audience clearly seemed to do so, which is why my comments probably shouldn't be generalized.
helpful•1711
- Sergeiii
- Jun 19, 2000
- How long is Au hasard Balthazar?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Zum Beispiel Balthasar
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $45,406
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $8,436
- Oct 19, 2003
- Gross worldwide
- $45,406
- Runtime1 hour 35 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content