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| Au Hasard, Balthazar |
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| Originally released: 1966 |
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Bresson's most radical and extreme achievement is also, perhaps, his
bleakest film. The chronicle of a donkey whose sufferings ambiguously
reflect, as through a glass darkly, against the desolate human world,
it sees cruelty as endemic, scarcely mitigated by the religious
consolation of the earlier films. Indeed, Bresson's explicit concern
is with the powerlessness of faith. But the darkness is redeemed by the
power and breadth of his vision; as Godard remarked, "this film
really is the whole world in an hour and a half." Displaying an
astonishing visual and structural invention, it's extraordinary on
many levels, intensely moving, and undoubtedly a masterpiece.
Alex Jacoby
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