Au hasard Balthazar



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, 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.

Disc Features

- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- New video interview with film scholar Donald Richie
- Un metteur en ordre: Robert Bresson, a 1966 French television show about the film, featuring Bresson, Jean-Luc Godard, Louis Malle, and members of Balthazar’s cast and crew
- Original theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- Plus: A new essay by film scholar James Quandt

Criterionforum.org user rating averages

Next Bresson up from the CC, hopefully relatively soon, I would expect will be PICKPOCKET...

I have wanted to see this movie for so long. Anyone have any thoughts/info on whether or not to expect a Bresson box at any point? If there is more Bresson to come from CC that would seem like a good choice ala the Kurosawa, Hitchcock sets. I would kill for something like that.

Looks like the Rialto print is finally coming to the S.F. Bay Area, to the Pacific Film Archive May 7-8. Probably as part of a Bresson retrospective, I'd guess. Just my luck, I leave on a trip to Boston May 7. Funny how these things work. Oh well at least I can look forward to June!

I wouldn't hold out for it. It'll be a while before there are enough titles in the collection to warrant this, and the common theme with the post facto boxes so far has been dealing with problems / clearing stock: imminent deletion (Hitchcock); imminent upgrade of a key title (Kurosawa); sub-par transfers (Samurai Trilogy and Kurosawa); pricing anomalies (Great Adaptations). Although Country Priest is arguably over-priced, these issues don't really apply to the Bresson titles so far.

Based on past experience, I'd expect the next boxes to mop up slow-moving and non-anamorphic titles in the Collection's far more extensive Bergman and Fellini franchises.

A wonderul cover! Notice how this time Criterion is cropping the donkey's face.... It does suck that there's no commentary, though.

I'm a bit underwhelmed with the specs for this title. The R2 is beautiful, and easily affordable. It has no extras, but I was hoping Criterion might do a 2-disc set for this, and with a commentary. And yes, that cover needs a bit of re-working.

Eh, I'd just as soon not pay another $10 for Peter Cowie to tell me how a faithful donkey is just like his favorite martini.

Not me...the reason I buy Criterions is because a) It's the first DVD release for a film, or b) It features the best transfer available for that film on DVD, and c) It comes with special features unavailable elsewhere, which are almost always brilliant.

This is usually the case (there are some exceptions of course), and is what makes me want to make a purchase.

In the case with Balthasar, the R2 (which I already own) has an incredible video transfer, and those extras listed won't pursuade me to get the Criterion (unless maybe that doco is feature length, and they add a commentary). I just thought, seeing as this is a highly anticipated title, they might go all out.

Don't get me wrong, special features generally rank highly with me, but given that we've got an hour long documentary, a video interview with a decent film scholar, and a $29.95 price point, I'm happy. I mean, I don't regret paying what I did for Diary of a Country Priest, because while the only major special feature was worthless, the film was more than worth it. I see this as a superior disc at a lower pricepoint, and would rather not pay extra for a commentary (I like some scholar commentaries, but they're very hit or miss), unless it was some sort of crazy Videodrome-style Robert Bresson commentary.

EDIT: I've fixed the first link...for some reason the current version of the page is broken, but the google cache version has some information (really just the 1hr runtime, the year, and I think the director credit, Roland Jarbois)

Yeah, I can see where you're coming from. But Diary was an exception...but to my knowledge, it was a first timer on DVD.
I guess it comes down to owning the R2 or not. I don't think it's worth upgrading to the CC this time - which is why I am disappointed.

Has anyone seen the doco? (is it just me, or does that link have nothing? can u help me out there?)

I guess, when it comes down to it, I wish Criterion released it first...then I wouldn't be comparing it to anything. I'm sure their transfer might even better the restored R2 - as with M.

"Never mind the quality, feel the width."

I'd much rather have a pithy 15 minute introduction / analysis than an overstretched feature-length commentary. And really, how much is there to say about this film on a scene-by-scene basis?

I think the main reason that Cowie's Diary commentary is so disappointing is that he simply doesn't have enough material to sustain the length of the track. Once you've given the background of the actors, outlined Bresson's aesthetics, and made comparisons to the source material (which you won't even have with Balthasar), you've exhausted most of the possibilities, and still have an hour to go. Hence the personal anecdotes and commentary-for-the-blind stylings. To be fair to Cowie, when he's got plenty of information to impart (e.g. Tokyo Olympiad) he can be excellent.

Up to 8 Bresson films in all are expected to be released by the CC...

A HASARD BALTHAZAR, DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST & LES DAMES DU BOIS DE BOULOGNE, we know...

Forthcoming titles should include “MOUCHETTE” + “PICKPOCKET” + “LE PROCES DE JEANNE D’ARC” + “UN FEMME DOUCE” + “QUATRE NUITS D’UN REVEUR” ...

According to French reports Mylene Bresson is apparently putting stipulations onto what can be released and how, restricting extras etc...

However on the likely next disc - PICKPOCKET - we know Paul Schrader has been working on a commentary... Also to be expected on this disc is the documentary THE MODELS OF PICKPOCKET (which accompanies MK2's boxset release, and AE's forthcoming R2 double disc)....

If the PICKPOCKET release runs to 2 discs, the classic episode of CINEASTES DE NOTRE TEMPS on Robert Bresson, may be included... If not, it will surely added to a later release...

Uncertainty regarding a CC release would surround UNE FEMME DOUCE & QUATRE NUITS D'UN REVEUR most...

For the others, it should be just a matter of time...

New Yorker Video released it on VHS, and New Yorker does sometimes lose the rights to films they used to distribute.

Yes, New Yorker released PICKPOCKET on VHS, which will come out on DVD in the CC...

I didn't realise New Yorker released Une Femme douce on VHS. It is still owned by Paramount in France. Quatres Nuit d'un R?veur is owned by Myl�ne Bresson.

Who's got the rights to L'Argent? Is it New Yorker?

...except the New Yorker will have at least one major extra the AE won't.

BTW, I really hope Criterion track down the original trailer for Balthazar--all of the trailers on the MK2 set are quite nice; on the other hand, the Rialto rerelease trailer is horrid, minor scenes cut together indifferently with the words "Directed by Robert Bresson" slashing through the screen when Gerard smashes the mirror. As if Bresson is Melville or somebody.

Tell, Doug... what is it?(I seemed to have missed it)...

It hasn't been announced yet.

Hopefully, it's this documentary. Schrader commentary would be good too.

Not that, I think (anyway it would have to be a NTSC-PAL conversion to work) as a R2 master is already extant and released by MK2 (R2 France)... The Europeans are thus already lucky etc! Actually based on the New Yorker release of A MAN ESCAPED (let down by a PAL to NTSC conversion) the question goes the other way, will New Yorker have mended their ways on L'ARGENT?...

Remember Mylene Bresson is across a lot of this, ensuring quality control, and approving and restricting extras...

However, thanks Doug for the tip, I'm intrigued. Certainly New Yorker's list price of $29.95 implies some substantial extras... I may yet be persuaded to switch from the AE...

Postscript - The AE L'ARGENT now lists extras as...

Now I'm really torn...

Well I'll be getting both versions. Just so you know, the AE Bresson interviews comprise a roughly 7-minute type of "inteview" Bresson preferred (ie., he came up with the questions/answers himself) and a roughly 13-minute interview for French television. Both are nice, and footage of Bresson is rare, but they're not going to radically alter your perception of him or anything. (Unless you didn't already know he was a fan of James Bond movies.)

The Duras interview is a little over a minute and she says "Bresson is the greatest" in myriad ways between thoughtful pauses before the fade out.

The Road to Bresson is indeed a very nice, introductory documentary (which includes parts of the L'Argent Cannes press conference as well as the exhilarating opportunity to see Welles present the Best Director award to both Tarkovsky and Bresson), but since it involves critical commentary (Malle, Schrader, Tarkovsky, the narrator, et al), I doubt we'll ever see it on the ongoing MK2-AE-Gaumont project.

The New Yorker editions of Lancelot du Lac and A Man Escaped are at the same price with only trailers. The transfers, however, are quite good. The transfer of A Man Escaped in particular is one of the best I've seen on DVD in my opinion.