Movie

Au Hasard Balthazar

1966 · 96 min

A quietly devastating, austere experience that follows a donkey's suffering with unblinking compassion, leaving a profound sense of sorrow and transcendence.

Overview: The story of a 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, is truly a beast of burden, suffering the sins of humankind. But despite his powerlessness, he accepts his fate nobly.

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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone: bleakstrength 3 of 3
melancholicstrength 3 of 3
earneststrength 2 of 3
Pacing: slow-burn, 1 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: demanding, 4 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: survival
isolation
guilt
morality
death
Places: countryside
small town
Era: contemporary
Audience: adult
Form: nonlinear
Content intensity: Gore mild
Language mild
Violence strong
Sex mild

All scales, 0 to 10

Scales, 0 to 10
Scale	Value	0 to 10
Action	2
Horror	2
Humour	1
Realism	8
Romance	2
Tension	5
Darkness	8
Complexity	6
Emotional weight	9

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Details

Genres: drama
Directed by: Robert Bresson
Written by: Robert Bresson
Starring: Anne Wiazemsky, Walter Green, François Lafarge, Jean-Claude Guilbert, Philippe Asselin, Pierre Klossowski, Nathalie Joyaut, Marie-Claire Fremont
Music: Jean Wiener
Cinematography: Ghislain Cloquet
Runtime: 96 min
Country: France, Sweden
Languages: French, Latin

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Au Hasard Balthazar

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