Au Hasard Balthazar (Blu-ray)

Robert Bresson achieves the pinnacle of his art in the tale of a gentle creature’s journey through a cruel world.

A profound masterpiece from one of the most revered filmmakers in the history of cinema, Au hasard Balthazar, directed by Bresson (Pickpocket), follows the donkey Balthazar as he is passed from owner to owner, some kind and some cruel but all with motivations outside of 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.

• New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• Interview from 2005 with film scholar Donald Richie
• Un metteur en ordre: Robert Bresson, a 1966 French television programme about he film, featuring Bresson, filmmakers Jean-Luc Godard and Louis Malle, and members of Balthazar’s cast and crew
• Original theatrical trailer
• Plus: An essay by film scholar James Quandt