For example, Balthasar

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Movie
German title For example, Balthasar
Original title Au Hasard Balthazar
Country of production France
Sweden
original language French
Publishing year 1966
length 95 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Robert Bresson
script Robert Bresson
production Likes Bodard
music Jean Wiener
camera Ghislain Cloquet
cut Raymond Lamy
occupation

For example Balthasar (original title: Au hasard Balthazar ) is a Swedish - French feature film from 1966. The drama was directed by Robert Bresson , who also wrote the screenplay. The film was produced by Argos Films , Athos Films , Parc Film and the Swedish Film Institute .

action

Landes in the 1960s. A young donkey is christened Balthasar by the two children Marie and Jacques. For years Balthasar endured every torment as a mute creature. After serving as a packhorse, circus attraction and inheritance defeated by a criminal, he is finally used by smugglers from Gerard's entourage.

Marie also experiences suffering, who lets her new lover Gérard abuse her. Marie is left naked and possibly raped by Gérard's gang in a hut, Balthasar dies after being shot by the border patrol in the middle of a herd of sheep.

History of origin

The film was shot in Guyancourt in the Yvelines department .

The haunting, sparsely used film music comes from the 2nd movement (Andantino) of the Piano Sonata No. 20 in A major, D 959 by Franz Schubert .

reception

The film was released in French cinemas on May 25, 1966. In the following period it was shown at several film festivals and appeared in cinemas in several European countries.

Critics received the film enthusiastically. Director Jean-Luc Godard wrote that anyone who saw this film would be absolutely amazed because it was truly the world in an hour and a half.

"The death of Balthasar at the end of Au Hasard Balthazar is a moment that can become such an essential crossroads at which we are either brought to tears or haunted by a cool indifference."

- Film headquarters

“A thematically not in all parts convincing parable by Robert Bresson, whose mysticism and emotionality several times push the boundaries of kitsch. Still of moving intensity in many scenes. A win for adults. "

- Protestant film observer

“Bresson suggests that we are all Balthazars. Despite our dreams, hopes, and plans, the world will eventually treat us as it does. Because we can think and reason, we believe we can find a way out, a solution, or an answer. But intelligence gives us the ability to understand our fate, but without the power to control it. Still, Bresson doesn't leave us empty-handed. He offers us compassion as advice. When we go beyond ourselves and empathize with how others feel, we can find solace in sharing human experience rather than enduring it alone in solitude. "

- Roger Ebert

Awards

For example, Balthasar won the OCIC Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1966 . The Association Française de la Critique de Cinéma awarded the film the Prix ​​Méliès in 1967 .

The film is still very popular with film critics and filmmakers, and it often appears on lists of the best films of all time. In a survey of over 1000 international film critics carried out by Sight & Sound magazine , For example Balthasar was voted 16th among the best films of all time.

literature

  • James Quandt: 'Au Hasard Balthazar' and 'The Devil Probably'. In: Mary Lea Bandy, Antonio Monda (Eds.): The Hidden God: Film and Faith. Museum of Modern Art, New York 2003, ISBN 0-87070-349-8 , pp. 17-28.
  • Tony Pipolo: 'Au hasard, Balthazar': The Body in the Soul. In: Ted Perry (Ed.): Masterpieces of Modern Cinema. Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis 2006, ISBN 978-0-253-21858-2 , pp. 252-274.
  • Reinhold Zwick: The dignity of the donkey. Transfigurative Dimensions of an Unusual Passion Figure - Reflections on Robert Bresson's 'Au Hasard Balthazar'. In: Dietmar Regensburger, Christian Wessely (Ed.): From Oedipus to Eichmann . Cultural anthropological prerequisites of violence (Film & Theologie series, 22). Schüren, Marburg 2015, ISBN 3894728140 , pp. 243-252.
  • Lucien van Liere: Violence and guilt between freedom and determination in the work of Robert Bresson. In: Dietmar Regensburger, Christian Wessely (Ed.): From Oedipus to Eichmann. Cultural anthropological prerequisites of violence (Film & Theologie series, 22). Schüren, Marburg 2015, ISBN 3894728140 , pp. 253-258.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Voices on Robert Bresson's work and individual films on the site of the Institute for Systematic Theology, University of Innsbruck.
  2. ↑ Janis El-Bira: For example Balthasar .
  3. ↑ Ev. Munich Press Association, Review No. 259/1966.
  4. ^ Roger Ebert: Au Hasard Balthazar (2004). (Engl. "Bresson suggests that we are all Balthazars. Despite our dreams, hopes and best plans, the world will eventually do with us whatever it does. Because we can think and reason, we believe we can figure a way out, find a solution, get the answer. But intelligence gives us the ability to comprehend our fate without the power to control it. Still, Bresson does not leave us empty-handed. He offers us the suggestion of empathy. If we will extend ourselves to sympathize with how others feel, we can find the consolation of sharing human experience, instead of the loneliness of enduring it alone. ")
  5. ↑ The 100 Greatest Films of All Time | Sight & Sound. Retrieved May 5, 2020 .