Robert Bresson

Robert Bresson

1) Considered a modernist filmmaker
2) His films are slow paced like Antonioni
3) He's considered a transcendental filmmaker 
     That means his films exhibit a style connected to ideas surrounding
      the spiritual, metaphysical or religious
     - Films that transcend boundaries - 

Mast and Kawin explain that Bresson’s films are about expressive silence and his primary theme is the battle of spiritual innocence with the corruption of the world. This is evident in Au Hasard Balthazar (1966), a film about a Christ-like donkey who suffers in silence. The film stars Anne Wiazemsky, who would later marry Jean-Luc Godard following his separation from Anna Karina. The following clip from Au Hasard Balthazar shows the idealistic early life of the donkey contrasted with the misery of his later years.

Au Hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson, 1966):

1)a film about a Christ-like donkey who suffers in silence.
2)The filmi star Anne Wiazemsky would later marry Jean-Luc Godard. 

"This clip shows the idealistic early life of the donkey contrasted with the misery of his 
later years."

What is in the clip - Here is a part of the clip Click Here

A small donkey suckling large donkey
The children want the small donkey as a pet.
They baptize him Balthazar. 
They're friend Marie comes over to give him salt.
The donkey gets older and is in a stall all day
The boy is wrestling with the donkey and the sister saves him. 
Jacques and Marie fall in love. 
There is a sick girl on a bed. 
A nurse giving her medication. 
Jacques family has to move away after his sister dies. 
He carves a heart in the bench. They kiss -- see you next year. maybe?
This is the first 3:33 minutes. 

I think this is a later compilation clip....
Now older the donkey is being whipped to obey
Shoes are being nailed onto him.
He has to plow the ground
Years to by. 
The donkey has to carry much more than ever. 
He is running until the cart tips over
The old man is injured but ok.
The donkey is finally happy eating straw alone. 

Criterion Introduction of movie:Taken from here.

A profound masterpiece from one of the most revered filmmakers in the history of cinema, 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 humankind. But despite his powerlessness, he accepts his fate nobly. Through Bresson’s unconventional approach to composition, sound, and narrative, this simple story becomes a moving parable about purity and transcendence.

Here is an analysis of a very different movie from Bresson's Pickpocket (1959)
It has a stylish noir look Click Here
Compared to Dostoyevsky - sparse mise-en-scene - He is like the character in Crime and Punishment
He is trapped in a personal prison. 
Only way out is through the Dostoyevsky redemption - Connecting with his community and his wrong doing. 

Personal note: In all the film groups that I belong to in Facebook. The director that comes up the most is Bresson. I think it's probably because of his movie Pickpocket that unfortunately we didn't study in class.

Here's a picture I found of him directing Leterrier in Un Condamne a mort s'est echappe

An analysis of Jean-Pierre Melville Click Here Wrong Place - move