Baltic Cinema: Au Hasard Balthazar
Dir. Robert Bresson France / Sweden 1966 96’ (Cert 12)
French with English subtitles | 35mm transferred to digital video
Baltic Cinema: Au Hasard Balthazar
Wed 18 february | 18:30
£6 Full price / £4 Students, under 18s, unwaged and 65+
Animal protagonists are traditionally the preserve of sentimental stories for children, but while Robert Bresson’s tragic masterpiece about the toils of a donkey has the simple force of a fable, it presents a brutally pessimistic vision. Punished, maltreated, used, loved, Balthazar is put to work by one keeper after another, bearing silent witness to the folly and petty cruelties of his human masters.
Bresson was a Catholic filmmaker, and his story has been interpreted as a Christian allegory by some critics. The director’s austerely concentrated shots, restricted to details of scenes in order to elucidate the whole, and his controlled use of sound to imply off-screen activity, make for a uniquely dense, richly textured film. Jean-Luc Godard was to suggest that Balthazar contained ‘the world in an hour and a half’. (BFI)
Au Hasard Balthazar screens here in response to Saelia Aparicio’s celebration of the animal and the non-human, A Joyful Parasite (Level 2 Gallery, until 8 March)
Doors open 18:30; Film starts 18:45. Pop-up cinema bar open from 18.00 for drinks.
Please note we cannot offer refunds on this event.
Baltic Cinema
Baltic Cinema is a new year-round cinema programme at Baltic, lighting up our Level 1 Cinema with the best new and archive films. Bringing otherwise rarely-screened work to the North East, Baltic Cinema also expands our exhibitions, offering a chance to explore further some of the themes they raise.
Baltic Cinema has five strands:
Currents presents new work from across the world
Sources expands on our exhibitions
Selected shows films selected by our artists and partners
Quayside Kino is a monthly screening for families and children
News From Home offers films on and from the North East, for the people who live here
All regular screenings take place in our Level 1 Cinema.
Baltic Cinema is supported by Film Hub North with National Lottery funding on behalf of the BFI Film Audience Network.
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As a registered charity, donations to Baltic are crucial as rising costs threaten our ability to
- Keep our exhibitions free entry and accessible to everyone
- Preserve support and opportunities for our communities to thrive
- Maintain our historical and iconic building
