Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Bob Pr. I've just finished seeing this in a monthly foreign film series and wish I could give it two different ratings -- probably a "2" because I kept trying to figure out its plot and couldn't but also an "8" or "9" because it does show that in living, as Balthazar experienced in this film, many of us go through a number of very different experiences. Seeing this film without first having read any reviews or with any advance knowledge of its message, it was finally that latter view that I arrived at after giving up on trying to figure out "the plot."

Brian Berta I've seen a lot of films about animals getting abused from that animals perspective. Some films that share this plot line can easily feel cookie-cutter after you've been exposed to it several times. I had a few concerns about that when I was about to go into this movie. Fortunately, however, "Au Hasard Balthazar" was not one of those examples. It turned out to be an exception. It was able to stand out amongst the rest of them. I don't think that it's flawless, but it's still a great movie.This film chronicles the life of an abused donkey named Balthazar as it passes from cruel owner to cruel owner. Meanwhile, the life of a young girl who originally owned it named Marie is chronicled as she gets badly treated by her abusive boyfriend. Both of their lives seem parallel to each other.On my re-watches, I noticed how the movie has a lot of religious symbolism. For instance, the fact that Balthazar goes through seven different owners could mean numerous things. It could represent the seven deadly sins or the seven sacraments. Also, Marie's name sounds similar to "Mary", the mother of Jesus. That's another example of symbolism. There's also the donkey's baptism that the kids try to do. It makes Balthazar seem divine. Also, the wreath of flowers put on Balthazar's head reminded me slightly of the Christ's crown of thorns. Also, the wine that Arnold drinks, and the bread that Gerard delivers could represent transubstantiation. There might be a few more examples from the movie that I missed. Some of the symbolism is a bit obvious, but I didn't mind that too much. I have a few explanations which explain Bresson's purpose for including them. The first one is that he could be trying to juxtapose religion with sin or simply good with evil. My second interpretation is that he might also be trying to establish Balthazar as a divine figure. My last interpretation is that he might be trying to inform the viewers that there is a special heaven for animals, as well as people.One of the things which set this film apart from many other films with similar plots is that it chronicles the hardships of Marie as well as Balthazar. When Balthazar was young, Marie was one of his original owners. Both of these characters lived relatively parallel lives. Balthazar got abused by each of his cruel owners, and Marie gets abused by her boyfriend Jacques who tried to force himself onto her in numerous scenes. However, the difference between the two of them is that Marie could defend herself to an extent, unlike Balthazar. Marie sometimes tried to avoid being around Jacques. Balthazar, on the other hand, was powerless, and he had very minimal reactions. Balthazar simply walked and waited for someone to give him order. The reason why he behaved this way was likely that he knew that his life consisted of him either feeling or not feeling pain. The most he did in the film was bray every now and then. It was almost like he couldn't do anything else to defend himself as he was powerless to his owners.The fate of Marie was not stated at the end of the film. After she gets stripped and beaten, we don't see her again. It's likely that she's going into a life of servitude. However, we do find out Balthazar's fate by the ending. After he's accidentally shot while Jacques uses him to steal certain items, he walks up to a sheep herd and spends his last minutes with them before he dies. There are a few interpretations I have for what Bresson intended by this scene. It could mean that Balthazar is trying to die in peace away from the abusive owners he encountered in his life. It could also mean that Balthazar is thinking of the life he could've had if he had kinder owners. Regardless of what Bresson intended by this scene, I still found it to be memorable. I enjoy movies with tragic endings, because they often linger with me long after viewing them (sometimes, I even like them more than happy endings). I appreciate directors who aren't afraid to step out of the comfort zones of audience members.The only major issue I had with this film was with the character of Jacques. I found him to be very oversimplified. In the first scene, he seemed like a nice kid. In the next scene when he's all grown up, however, he turns violent as he abuses Balthazar and forces himself on Marie. The movie doesn't explain how he became that way. It just skips his character arc and tells us "Jacques is a bad character, so you should dislike him", thus oversimplifying him. Also, most of the owners of Balthazar were either very underutilized or unmemorable. The only one who I found to be memorable was Arnold, but that was only because he was in the movie more.In conclusion, this was a pretty good movie. Robert Bresson did a great job with this film as he turned a tired plot into a memorable film that does a lot differently than other films. It could have been better, but it was still pretty good. This is the 2nd Bresson film I've watched (the first one being "A Man Escaped" which I enjoyed a bit more). I'm going to probably keep watching his films since he's proved himself to be a talented filmmaker.

Anthony Iessi Bresson is a man of action, and in many respects a man who fears God. His films bravely and magnificently represent real life, in the best way the French New Wave was able to do. It's about using real people, and real events to make realistic films. In terms of the religious implications within his films, they are as Catholic as movies come. All of his films represent saints in sinners, and how sinners can be offered redemption for their bad deeds. In a sense, he was definitely a precursor to Martin Scorsese, who has made films about Catholic guilt through his entire career. The films of Bresson also include the unfortunate victims of a brutal, oppressive world, and the idea that one day, they may be rewarded or remembered as martyrs for their suffering on this earth. The film that captures this second idea in perhaps Bresson's most breathtaking way, is "Au Hasard Balthazar" It's the story of a woman, Marie, and her childhood donkey, Balthazar. Together, Bresson shows to us the parallel of two vulnerable beings, and the world lets them down one person at a time. The two are mistreated by the exact same troupe of bad people. One of which is the boyfriend, Gerard, whom Marie cannot stop falling for, despite the fact that he uses her to his perverted advantage any chance he gets. She can't get past his leather-bound good looks, and as a result, she becomes Gerard's toy. Gerard has an equally disturbing relationship with Balthazar as well. Once scene is particular shows Gerard mercilessly lighting Balthazar's tale on fire, in order to make him move quicker on the trail to deliver bread along the French country side. Other people who turn up to hurt Balthazar and his owner, would be a perverted town drunk who kidnaps Balthazar and enters him into the circus, while desperately trying to sleep with Marie in his home once she decides to run away from home and stay at a strangers house. Once more, and again, Balthazar and Marie cannot escape the tragedy that surrounds their life. This is where the likeness to Catholicism comes in. Consider the story of Jesus Christ, and how he suffered and died for the sins of man, in order to become their savior. To Catholics, those who suffer are those whom we should respect, and by the end of the picture, we find ourselves more than just respective of Balthazar. Even the characters of the story refer to him as a "Saint". Of course, what comes to mind is the last scene of the film, which is perhaps one of the most beautiful in the history of cinema. Balthazar is seen surrounded by a flock of sheep, as he passes away peacefully in a field. Bresson magnificently uses his cinematography to capture the animal with a saintly aura. Sheep, also as you know, have much to do with the Bible, and it is assumed that Baltazar, though being a donkey, is as holy as a lamb. I adored this movie. Much like "Diary of Country Priest" the realism of the characters and scenes absolutely touched me. In regards to each of the characters, as typical of Bresson, they don't seem like actors, but strange people that we all know ourselves. From the quiet and restless Marie, to the rebellious, lout Gerard, we know these people, and Bresson makes it very easy to allow us to root for and detest whom we want to. I felt much sympathy, and pity for these people, for they kept falling into the same horrible mistakes, plunging themselves deeper into their own abyss. Marie is such a lost soul, and a misguided young woman. By the end of the picture, she is seen weeping in a corner, completely naked, presumably beaten by her boyfriend Gerard. It's the same kind of abuse that Bresson wants us to associate Balthazar with, but unlike an Animal that wouldn't know any better, Marie should've known much better. But in the end, like the good Catholic in me, I forgave her. "Father, please forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Bresson pulls on our heartstrings and leaves us devastated by the end of "Au Hasard Balthazar", but it is a remarkably cleansing experience to watch. In Bresson's unique and powerfully real way, he makes us care so much for a simple donkey.

TheFamilyBerzurcher Faith has been made complicated in the 21st Century. It is economic. It is sociological. It is classist. Above all, it is politicized. Christ's message has been manipulated and warped so that people can justify hate with His words. Mention of the Republican party or the Right will undoubtedly conjure images of frenzied worshipers, people shouting in tongues, and probably Rick Santorum. How many votes in this election will be made with a spiritual basis? Belief has been exorcised from political discourse. It's like your "personal life," something you leave behind when going to work. For many, Christianity has been made a joke - a punchline that everyone knows will never land.It's mental segregation. A religious conviction has been made into shorthand for particular socioeconomic ideas. And wrongly so. Educated liberals offer factual objections to the most basic assumptions in the Holy Bible. In fact, the simple virtue of education has been politicized as well. Believing in a God is now associated with being stupid or uneducated.All of this is equally upsetting. It makes AU HASARD BALTHAZAR so vital.The Christ imagery is not hard to see. BALTHAZAR is about the eponymous donkey and his struggles. It is a touching arrangement of image after image, sound and story. Bresson was a French Catholic and, like those of us with a strong faith, couldn't leave his convictions at home. In art, this fact somehow becomes a virtue again.Bresson's tale is full of impeccable photography and a tremendous script. The pictures are so astoundingly crisp and focused that Bresson teaches us where to look with less labor than Hollywood is every able. It's so subtle, but we have been trained to lie with depth, especially now as we are dancing with three dimensions. He famously said that the only way to photograph was from close and in front. At times, this consistency is redundant, not beautiful, but only when employed in rapidly edited passages. Most of the time, however, his photography is sublime - perhaps more evocative of the Italian school than other contemporary French work. In addition, there is a magnificent script, spending a gorgeous majority in silence, respecting the potential of the image. It owes equally to the formality of mass and the subdued ecstasy in Dostoyevsky.So many remark on Bresson's radiant visual style, but he also makes thoughtful use of sound. Some noises, like a cricket or a creaky wheel will gradually migrate from peripheral to dominating. He constructs these tableaux in layers, but unimposing ones. They are simple, but never insulting. His discipline informs the counterpoint rather than eliminating it.A difficult film, but entirely rewarding. Don't ignore the religious imagery and symbolism. Instead, appreciate the intimacy between Bresson and his material.93.3