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“Heart-breaking
and magnificent... the supreme masterpiece by one of the
greatest of 20th-century filmmakers. Bringing together all Bresson’s highly developed ideas about acting, sound, and editing, as well as grace, redemption, and human nature, Balthazar is understated and majestic, sensuous and ascetic, ridiculous and sublime. It would be a masterpiece for its soundtrack alone... No one has ever made better use of close-ups, more precisely delineated off-screen space, or so flawlessly established a dramatic rhythm... Bresson’s narrative hints at an immense story involving betrayal, theft, even murder. But its real concern is the state of being.” – J. Hoberman, Village Voice (click here to read the complete review) (1966) A little donkey is suckled by its mother, then baptized “Balthazar;” a girl and boy say goodbye at the end of summer: a vision of paradise. Years pass and the now-teenaged Marie (Anne Wiazemsky, later Godard’s wife and star, and today a celebrated author) finds herself drifting into more and more destructive situations, including involvement with a local juvenile delinquent; while Balthazar moves from owner to owner, some relatively kind, some cruel, some drunkenly careless. But, as critic J. Hoberman pointed out, “this is the story of a donkey in somewhat the way that Moby Dick is about a whale.” God, as ever in the work of legendary filmmaker Bresson, is in the details: the elliptical editing, with its abrupt cuts, off-screen space, and as much focus on the hands of the nonpro cast as on their faces; sound design alternating between classical music and natural sounds; the accumulation of cruelties endured by Marie and Balthazar; and the religious symbolism, from baptism to martyrdom — with the silent Balthazar transformed into a patient, long-suffering saint (“the most sublime cinematic passage I know.” – Hoberman). In a body of work known for its purity and transcendence, Balthazar is perhaps the most wrenching of Bresson's visions, voted 19 in the 2002 BFI Sight & Sound critics and filmmakers poll of all-time great films, and 9 in the Village Voice's poll of the greatest films of the 20th century. “Bresson’s greatest film and one of the masterpieces of the 20th century.” – Molly Haskell. “Absolutely magnificent... one of the most significant events of the cinema.” – Jean-Luc Godard. “Extraordinary sensuality. . . it stands by itself.” – Andrew Sarris. A RIALTO PICTURES RELEASE OF AN ARGOS FILM Film Info (word docs):
Available at Amazon.com:
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