The Film (5/5)

    There is a minimalist beauty, and a simple brutality in the films I have seen by Robert Bresson (OK, so only 3 Pickpocket, Au Hasard Balthazar, and Lancelot du Lac). His films seem to have major religious overtones due to his overt Catholicism. This comes through quite strongly in Au Hasard Balthazar, which shows the parallel existence of a donkey named Balthazar, and a young girl named Marie as they age and come into contact with the hash brutal realities of life.

    Au Hasard Balthazar opens with Schubert over the opening credits, until the sound of the music is disrupted by the sound of the donkey who will be our central character and stand-in within this corner of the world.  Balthazar begins life as a pet to Marie (Anne Wiazemsky, who would go on to marry and work with Jean-Luc Godard). Balthazar was the most frequent companion in Marie's life, and he would find himself working on the family farm in spurts, but also running away, and being sold off to other members of the community, in which he would befall tragic circumstances.  While this occurs, Marie herself grows up, and finds the world is not as simple to navigate as she had hoped. Her Father's farm is not the place of security it appeared in her youth, and the young man she chose for herself, is a belligerent criminal who cares very little for her.

    One thing that Bresson did throughout his career with actors, was to either work with non-professionals or work his professionals down until their was little to no emotion left in their performances.  In many ways the Balthazar-donkey is the epitome of a Bresson actor. When the camera is focused on the donkey, for example at a scene in a zoo, where Balthazar observes the chained and caged animals any emotion that we invest in the scene is ours alone, and none comes from the performer, as even with the best effort of the director some emotional intent would come from almost any human actor.

    The film is shot by Bresson in a stark and beautiful black and white in a very simple manner that allows the viewer to observe the brutality of Balthazar's existence. Of course, Balthazar's existence until the final moments are forced upon him by each and every one of his owners minus Marie, who is the only one who seems to treat him with a kind loving heart. Marie, of course, is dealing with aging into a harsh existence of her own, however unlike Balthazar, she has the gift of choice, and will eventually do something about it.

Audio/Video (5/5)

    Criterion presents Au Hasard Balthazar in a splendid 1:66:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer preserving the OAR of the film.  The transfer looks quite natural with solid grain present and stable contrast. Audio is presented with a French LPCM mono track that sounds quite clear and crisp.

Extras (3/5)

    The extras are limited to a 10 minute critical analysis by Donald Richie, a French television program that features Bresson with Godard, and members of the cast and crew, and excellent liner notes by James Quandt.

Overall

    There is so much depth in this 96 minutes of Au Hasard Balthazar that it's hard to really do it justice with a simple review. It is a beautiful, yet brutal film that will give give any emotions to the viewer that they choose to invest into it.  The Blu-ray from Criterion looks and sounds amazing, and has a limited, but potent slate of extras. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.