Au Hasard Balthazar

Au hasard Balthazar French pronunciationo a.za bal.ta.za meaning Balthazar, at Random, also known as Balthazar, is a 1966 French film directed by Robert Bresson. It was succinctly characterized by J. Hoberman in 2003 Robert Bressons heartbreaking and magnificent Au Hasard Balthazar 1966 the story of a donkeys life and death in rural France is the supreme masterpiece by one of the greatest of 20thcentury filmmakers.

After making several prisonthemed films using his theory of pure cinematography, Bresson stated that he wanted to move onto a different style of filmmaking. The story was inspired by Fyodor Dostoyevskys The Idiot and each episode in Balthazars life represents one of the seven deadly sins. Bresson later stated that the film was made up of many lines that intersect one another and that Balthazar was meant to be a symbol of Christian faith. Bresson produced the film with help from the Swedish Film Institute.According to Wiazemskys 2007 novel Jeune Fille, she and Bresson developed a close relationship during the shooting of the film, although it was not consummated. On location they stayed in adjoining rooms and Wiazemsky says at first, he would content himself by holding my arm, or stroking my cheek. But then came the disagreeable moment when he would try to kiss me ... I would push him away and he wouldnt insist, but he looked so unhappy that I always felt guilty. Later Wiazemsky lost her virginity to a member of the films crew, which she says gave her the courage to reject Bresson as a lover. Bresson was known to cast nonprofessional actors and use their inexperience to create a specific type of realism in his films. Wiazemsky states It was not his intention to teach me how to be an actress. Almost against the grain, I felt the emotion the role provoked in me, and later, in other films, I learned how to use that emotion. ........

Source: Wikipedia