Au Hasard Balthazar

1966 1h 36m FR

🙌

7.5

BANGER

★7.5TMDB · 530

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The story of a donkey Balthazar as he is passed from owner to owner, some kind and some cruel but all with motivations beyond his understanding. Balthazar, whose life parallels that of his first keeper, Marie, is truly a beast of burden, suffering the sins of humankind. But despite his powerlessness, he accepts his fate nobly.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Where to watch · US

Criterion ChannelSubscription

Cast

Anne Wiazemsky
Marie
Walter Green
Jacques
François Lafarge
Gérard
Jean-Claude Guilbert
Arnold
Philippe Asselin
Marie's Father
Pierre Klossowski
Merchant
Nathalie Joyaut
Marie's Mother
Marie-Claire Fremont
Baker's Wife

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Robert Bresson
Writers: Robert Bresson
Languages: French, Latin
Countries: France, Sweden

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

60 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, Latin.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: France, Sweden.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Robert Bresson, shot by Ghislain Cloquet. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jean Wiener. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Raymond Lamy shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Anne Wiazemsky and Walter Green and François Lafarge carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Robert Bresson directs. Ghislain Cloquet behind the camera. Jean Wiener scores. Raymond Lamy cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in France, Sweden. Dialogue in French, Latin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

160 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, Latin.
3International production across 2 countries: France, Sweden.
4Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
5Directed by Robert Bresson, shot by Ghislain Cloquet. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Jean Wiener. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Raymond Lamy shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Anne Wiazemsky and Walter Green and François Lafarge carry the top of the cast.
9IMDB entry: tt0060138 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 18 themes, including "suicide", "rape", "countryside", "misery".
11Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Ghislain Cloquet
Original score: Jean Wiener
Editing: Raymond Lamy
Production design: Pierre Charbonnier
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Status: Released
Box office: $39,388
Original language: FR
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)

Also by

Robert Bresson

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

tmdb476334912018-05-05
★ 6/10
Devastating. Crazy to see Adele Exarchopoulos so young. You'll never hear the sound of a donkey braying the same way again
CinemaSerf2022-12-25
★ 7/10
The novice actor Anne Wiazemsky is really effective as "Marie", a young woman who has shared most of her life with her donkey "Baltahzar". Initially her childhood pet, this creature has spent much of his life as the victim of inhumane treatment at the hands of subsequent owners - including her rather wretched boyfriend "Gérard" (François Lafarge) - that in may ways mirrors her own mistreatment and unhappiness. Unlike the human beings, though, "Balthazar" cannot communicate his feelings - he must quite literally just grin and bear it as he is used as a beast of burden, exposed to all weathers and generally neglected. Robert Bresson uses this scenario to compare and contrast the treatment of this animal with the way people treat each other - generous and engaging when they want something; brutal and selfish when they have or don't want it any more. This film offers us a depressing, yet curiously uplifting at times, view of the fickleness of youth and the intolerance of age - subtly. The dialogue is curiously aloof - almost superfluous as the story and their intertwined lives advance with an inevitability as certain and life and death itself. The photography is lingering and intimate, the pace gentle and it's touching. It is also real and gritty and plausible - and certainly a film that leaves you thinking.