AU Hasard Balthazar (1966)

AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE’S BLEAK WEEK:  CINEMA OF DESPAIR  IS HERE!  AS ONE OF OVER A HUNDRED PARTICIPATING  MOVIE THEATERS AROUND THE WORLD, WE’RE OFFERING UP THREE DOUBLE FEATURES  (WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES / COME & SEE, IN A YEAR OF 13 MOONS / STROCZEK, CHRISTIANE F. / AU HASARD BALTHAZAR) & A CLOSING  7 PLUS HOUR  BELA TARR MONUMENTAL FEATURE  SATANTANGO!

NOTE:  THIS DOUBLE FEATURE WILL BE WITH THE 70’S GERMAN TEEN ADDICT FEATURE CHRISTIANE F.

A profound masterpiece from one of the most revered filmmakers in the history of cinema, Robert Bresson’s Au hasard Balthazarfollows the 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. Through Bresson’s unconventional approach to composition, sound, and narrative, this simple story becomes a moving parable about purity and transcendence.

“Perhaps the greatest and most revolutionary of Bresson’s films, Balthazar is a difficult but transcendently rewarding experience, never to be missed.” – Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

“I think this is a superb movie for its original content, exhilarating editing and Bresson’s Puritanistic camera work, belt-high and wonderfully toned, that creates a deep, damp, weathered quality of centuries-old provincialism.” – Manny Farber, Artforum

“If one were looking for a perfectly realized film, Au Hasard Balthazar would be as likely a candidate as any.” – Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club