“Reality is different. Oh what an awakening is this enough to drive me mad. I want to run away.” Cries Marie to her ‘innocent’ lover who she does not see the same way anymore. Something has changed inside of her. She has awaked to something. But what?
Robert Bresson’s Au Hasard Balthazar(1966)
Balthazar, our little donkey’s journey starts with his first owner Marie. After Balthazar’s death at the end, Marie also disappears from the scene. Marie has finally run away. One journey ends in death while another one is maybe just starting.
Marie is surrounded by an environment where everyone and everything is forced upon her. She is lost in roles of a perfect daughter and challenged with her sexuality.
Although Marie seems to be the central human character in the film, Balthazar is also the main character. Except he is a donkey. Of course the incredibility of the film lies that he isn’t just a donkey. He is more than a pet. Balthazar watches as we watch together with him how Marie struggles in the society she is forced to live in. Her father’s obsession with dignity, image…Her mother’s passive aggressive calmness towards events… Lastly, the pressure of every single male character sexualising Marie and seeing her no further than a mere object.
“Reality isn’t what we have dreamed of as we were kids. You see us carving our names on this bench don’t you? I don’t anymore”
This awakening of reality hits Marie while others continue playing their roles in their twisted worlds. Balthazar’s death is also an escape from this twisted world. Which escape is the solution? We will never know…
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