Can a donkey’s life story reveal the deepest truths of the human experience?
In short: Robert Bresson’s 1966 masterpiece follows a donkey named Balthazar through a series of cruel owners and fleeting moments of grace. By refusing to humanize his animal protagonist, Bresson forces viewers to confront the raw, unvarnished reality of suffering and empathy, creating a film widely considered one of history’s greatest.
Released in 1966, Au hasard Balthazar is a tragedy directed by Robert Bresson that tracks the life of a donkey from his childhood with a farm family to his eventual death. The film is noted for its ascetic style and minimalist aesthetic, which Bresson used to avoid manipulating the audience’s emotions. Instead of relying on traditional acting, Bresson employed nonprofessional performers, believing that their lack of artifice allowed for a more profound, authentic emotional resonance. Critics often highlight the film’s spiritual depth, noting that Bresson drew inspiration from Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel The Idiot and the life of Saint Ignatius to explore themes of abasement and humanity.
The narrative follows Balthazar as he is passed between various owners, including a criminal gang leader named Gérard and an alcoholic named Arnold. While the donkey endures relentless labor and physical abuse, he remains a neutral observer of the human condition. Bresson’s approach ensures that the donkey never performs 'reaction shots' or displays human-like intelligence; he simply exists. This choice has been praised by filmmakers like Werner Herzog and Wes Anderson, who view the work as a pinnacle of cinematic empathy. By stripping away sentimental artifice, the film allows the viewer to project their own feelings onto the donkey’s journey.
Despite initial skepticism from some American critics upon its 1966 debut, the film’s reputation has grown significantly over the decades. It currently holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was ranked sixteenth in the 2012 Sight & Sound critics' poll. Its influence extends globally, inspiring later works such as the 1977 Indian film Agraharathil Kazhutai and Jerzy Skolimowski’s 2022 film EO. Today, it is regarded as a supreme masterpiece that, as Jean-Luc Godard once remarked, captures the entire world within its ninety-minute runtime, offering a sober, heartbreaking reflection on the nature of existence.
Opens the Intellect+ feed with this card first. Swipe up for the next one.
Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Au hasard Balthazar
To cite this card, link to https://intellectplus.co.uk/app/art-au-hasard-balthazar.
How we source, check and correct cards: Editorial standards.
General information, not professional advice. Spotted an error? Flag the card or see corrections and complaints.
Intellect Plus is a visual educational discovery platform for exploring fascinating facts and ideas. Brain Food, Not Brain Rot. What is Intellect Plus?
Related
More in Film and television · More in Art · Latest · A–Z · All topics
