Review of Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) by Ut S — 07 Jul 2009

It's shot well, but the acting, plot, characterization, and dialogue are severely lacking. The belief of the old French "masters" that all aspects of basic storytelling could be tossed aside so long as they threw in plenty of jump-cuts and heavy-handed attempts at metaphor simply falls flat when compared to the classic cinema of nearly every other filmmaking nation.

Granted, I haven't seen every old French film, but I've been watching quite a few lately, and each one seems more pompous and less deserving of its bountiful praise than the last. The most frustrating thing about this film in particular is that the donkey was dragged around, beaten, set on fire, and seemingly shot at the end, all for such a mediocre piece of "art".