A profound masterpiece from one of the most revered filmmakers in the history of cinema, director Robert Bresson’s “Au hasard Balthazar” follows the donkey Balthazar as he is passed from owner to owner, some kind and some cruel but all with motivations beyond his understanding. Balthazar — whose life parallels that of his first keeper, Marie (Anne Wiazemsky) — is truly a beast of burden, suffering the sins of man. But despite his powerlessness, he accepts his fate nobly. Through Bresson’s unconventional approach to composition, sound, and narrative, this seemingly simple story becomes a moving parable of purity and transcendence.
