|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
 |
|||||
“Heart-breaking
and magnificent... the supreme masterpiece by one of the (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:
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
