Au hasard Balthazar (1966)

Director:

Robert Bresson

Writer:

Robert Bresson (writer)

Release Date:

25 May 1966 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The story of a mistreated donkey and the people around him. A study on saintliness and a sister piece to Bresson's Mouchette.

Plot Keywords:

Imagery | Baptism | Cinema | Christianity | Parable

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Anne Wiazemsky	...	Marie
François Lafarge	...	Gerard
Philippe Asselin	...	Marie's father
Nathalie Joyaut	...	Marie's mother
Walter Green	...	Jacques
Jean-Claude Guilbert	...	Arnold
Pierre Klossowski	...	Merchant
François Sullerot	...	Baker
Marie-Claire Fremont	...	Baker's wife (as M.C. Fremont)
Jean Rémignard	...	Notary
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jean-Joël Barbier	...	The Priest
René Bazart
Guy Brejac
Isabelle de Winter
Roger Fjellstrom
Henri Fraisse
Sven Frostenson
Dominique Mounc
Tord Paag	...	Louis
José Ruiz Pernias
Isabelle Petit
Guy Renault
Gilles Sandier
Pascale Savornin
Jacques Sorbets	...	Police Officer
Mylène Weyergans

Directed by
Robert Bresson

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Robert Bresson		writer

Produced by
Mag Bodard	....	producer

Original Music by
Jean Wiener

Cinematography by
Ghislain Cloquet

Film Editing by
Raymond Lamy

Production Design by
Pierre Charbonnier

Production Management
Michel Choquet	....	assistant production manager
Philippe Dussart	....	production manager
René Pascal	....	assistant production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sven Frostenson	....	assistant director
Jacques Kébadian	....	assistant director
Claude Miller	....	assistant director

Art Department
Jean Catala	....	props
Dominique Ribeyrolles	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Antoine Archimbaud	....	sound
Jean-Joël Barbier	....	sound recordist: piano
Jacques Carrère	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Jean Chiabaut	....	camera operator
Emmanuel Machuel	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Geneviève Billo	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Jean Drejac	....	music editor

Other crew
Geneviève Cortier	....	script girl
Guy Renault	....	animal trainer

Production Companies

• Argos Films
• Athos Films
• Parc Film
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF)
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI)

Distributors

• Cinema Ventures (1970) (USA) (subtitled)
• Criterion Collection, The (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Neue Filmkunst Walter Kirchner (1967) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Rialto Pictures (2003) (USA)

Also Known As:

Balthazar (USA)
Min vän Balthazar (Sweden)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

France | Sweden

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Iceland:L | Sweden:11 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Guyancourt, Yvelines, France

Company:

Argos Films

Trivia:

Balthazar was an untrained donkey during most of the filming, which made Bressons's work a real challenge. The only scene for which the donkey was trained was the circus math trick.

Quotes:

Marie: Don't you believe in anything?
Merchant: I believe in what I own. I love money. I hate death.
Marie: You'll die like everyone else.
Merchant: I will bury them all.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Marxist Poetry: The Making of 'The Battle of Algiers' (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Piano Sonata No.20

a donkey's life

Perhaps one of the only films with a live animal in the lead role, this Bresson film is profound art. Excellent acting, masterful direction, decent (new) translation ... French is a little more descriptive and poetic, as usual. The camera follows the winding life span of a donkey in rural France. Used for noble and ignoble, legal and illegal purposes at times, the donkey changes hands repeatedly, at times abused and other times shown loving care and attention. Akin to the style and tone of pre-War French Poetic Relism, despair grows as the setting opens with hopeful simplicity and deteriorates as dreams fade, hearts harden and people die. In the end, the donkey who has witnessed much becomes not only a pawn but a victim. Le pauvre. Funny I didn't see a notice at the end of the film: "No animals were harmed in the making of this film." Anyway, well worth watching more than once.