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The Merchant (Pierre Klossowski) and Balthazar

Above all, this is an Easter film. I think of Mel Gibson's Passion of The Christ: both directors focus unflinchingly on a blameless sacrificial victim, mistreated by those who have power over his life, a victim who endures cruel things at their hands and for their sake as he trudges resolutely forward to fulfill his purpose in the world. Christ's torments are extraordinarily violent, compressed into twelve or fifteen hours, while Balthazar's are casual and sustained, a lifelong via dolorosa of mundane cruelties. I see here the Suffering Servant I saw in Kurosawa's Ikuru (it's no coincidence that both films draw inspiration from Dostoevsky), quietly bearing grievous burdens as he sets out in obedience to do the task before him, whatever the cost. 

Au Hasard Balthazar is no straightforward allegory of a donkey-Christ. His death goes unremarked, saves no one, atones for nothing. But does Balthasar remind us of Christ?  Absolutely, and with a simplicity and profundity that stirs us and stays with us long after more direct portrayals have faded from our hearts and memories.

DVD DETAILS: This historic release of a long-unavailable masterpiece features the sort of superb picture quality and crystal-clear soundtrack that Criterion is known for. Surprisingly there is no commentary track, but an hour-long TV special produced for French television in 1966 includes an extensive interview with the director, as well as reactions from cinematic luminaries such as Jean-Luc Godard and Louis Malle. Film scholar Donald Richie provides a refreshingly personal response to the film in a specially recorded interview, and there is an unintentionally funny trailer for the film that tries to sell Balthazar as The Wild One on mopeds, with hardly a donkey in sight.

To buy the DVD, click here. For more information from the Criterion site, click here. For more info on Robert Bresson, click here.

Talk About It

1. After a series of Bresson files dealing explicitly with Christian themes and characters, many felt that God was absent from Au Hasard Balthazar. Bresson disagreed: "I don't think that just speaking of God or saying the word 'God' indicates his presence." Many viewers experience God profoundly through this film. What do you think? Where does God show up? Where does he not?
   
   
2. Bresson said that the donkey's owners represent various vices. Romans 3:23 says "all have sinned, falling short of the glory of God." Where do these characters fall short? How do their vices harm Balthazar? Are there times when Balthazar brings out a character's sinful response?
   
   
3. Bresson said film is "a way of taking a deeper look at things," and "an aid to mankind in delving deeper and discovering ourselves." Does this film accomplish that? How? What, if anything, did you discover about yourself?
   
   
4. In what ways do you see Balthazar as a Christ figure? (Hint: Think of the Nativity, Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion.)

The Family Corner

While it's an animal story without explicit sexual content, strong language or harsh violence, this film may in fact have more potential to disturb children because of the frequent mistreatment and eventual death of the central character. While they are all conveyed through suggestion and innuendo, there are also many child-inappropriate elements in the human stories here, including Gerard's almost sociopathic contempt for authority and the well-being of others, as well as a certain amount of implied promiscuity. At one point we see a young woman unclothed, kneeling in the corner of a room, turned away from us.

Photos © Copyright Criterion

© Ron Reed 2005, subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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