Au hasard Balthazar
1966 · Movie · NR · 96 min · ★ 7.5 · 99% critics
A donkey is passed from one rural owner to another, meeting both kindness and cruelty while being worked hard and misunderstood. As the animal’s journey unfolds, it echoes the struggles of a young person nearby, creating a quiet, sobering look at how people use, neglect, and occasionally care for those who can’t fight back.
Also known as Balthazar At Random
Where to watch
Streaming on Kanopy and The Criterion Channel — or rent from $3.99.
2 hours to watch.
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Details
- Years
- 1966
- Release date
- 1966-05-25
- Language
- French
- Rated
- NR
- Runtime
- 96 min
- Critic score
- 99/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.5/10 (512 votes)
About
If you’re drawn to austere, reflective dramas about suffering and endurance, this may resonate, especially if you like Pickpocket or A Man Escaped; Not for you if you need fast pacing, clear plot beats, or can’t handle animal mistreatment.
Pros: deeply moving; thoughtful moral parallels; memorable atmosphere | Cons: very slow pacing; sparse, aloof dialogue; hard to watch cruelty
Themes
- suicide
- rape
- countryside
- misery
- donkey
- gang leader
- youth gang
- black and white
- cruelty
- burden
- beast of burden
- transcendence
- +6 more
Cast & crew
Anne Wiazemsky
as Marie
- WG
Walter Green
as Jacques
- FL
François Lafarge
as Gérard
- JG
Jean-Claude Guilbert
as Arnold
- PA
Philippe Asselin
as Marie's Father
- PK
Pierre Klossowski
as Merchant
- NJ
Nathalie Joyaut
as Marie's Mother
- MF
Marie-Claire Fremont
as Baker's Wife
- JB
Jean-Joël Barbier
as The Priest
Directed by Robert Bresson