Review of Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) by Jacabiya — 07 Dec 2014

The discussion about Bresson has already been laid out between his fans who “get it” and the minority –to which I belong - within the minority of cinema viewers who actually care about art cinema, or Bresson for that matter, that hate Bresson with a passion.

I hate Bresson for the same reasons others hate him: he makes films not to be enjoyed but to be endured, while forcing his worldview upon you. This, coming from a person who appreciates Bergman, Bunuel, Dreyer, Ozu and Godard, and who liked Jeanne Dillman and the Turin Horse.

I can safely say Bresson is the only world wide acclaimed artistic director I can’t appreciate in any way. So he defies convention and tells the truth, great, if it were true, since he necessarily selects the facts to be presented in order to advance his view, rejects any moments of joy or pleasure, and presents a quite unreal world, like for example Gerard trashing the town bar while the other patrons keep dancing in Balthazar.

So you show a donkey been beaten and that is considered moving, well, as others have pointed out, I can place a camera in front of beaten or abused animals and be moving, too.So he breaks convention, excellent, if it translates into something interesting.

Like someone else said, watch “Empire” by Warhol if you want to see a film breaking conventions. Hell, watch Jeanne Dillman, a film I very much enjoyed even with its length, dark view and non drama.

So he rejects acting and casts non-professionals to deliver their lines looking at the floor, outstanding, if in some way I could understand the significance of this method. I’ve seen Balthazar twice, the second time in order to see if I had missed something, but no, there it was again, this extremely dry, pessimistic world, this uncomfortable, humorless and painful viewing experience, with nothing to pique your interest or stimulate your brain except that life is hell and then you die.

Quite simply, Bresson bores me while annoying me to death. His movies are, like someone else said, “sucker punch(es) to the gut”.