MovieChat Forums > Au hasard Balthazar (1966) Discussion > The one thing that would have made this ...

The one thing that would have made this film perfect.....

posted 16 years ago by Miura88
5 replies | jump to latest

Would have been Balthazar stomping Gerard's guts out! God he was such an incredible *beep* I don't think I've ever felt more hatred towards a character in a movie than Gerard: All he ever did was abuse Balthazar and take advantage of absolutely everyone for his own personal gain, and he never got his come-uppance. I wish there was a sequel where one of Balthazar's bastard love childs swears revenge on Gerard, tracks him down and kills him!

But in all seriousness, this is my favourite Bresson film. Pickpocket was really good, Diary of a Country Priest was quite good, and I found L'Argent to be quite good, but cold and a little far-fetched (maybe I need to see it again, but the guy being corrupted so much he viciously slaughters that family seemed a bit over the top. But at least he did the right thing and turned himself in).

But back to this film, at the very end, I reached towards the screen and imagined myself petting Balthazar. Great film.

J Dilla Changed My Life. Rest In Beats.

[–] trymyproduct11 15 years ago

That Gerard was a real motherfunker wasn't he? Although, I think Balthazar stomping his guts out would kind of destroy the point of the movie!

[–] CrikeyMikey 14 years ago

The one thing that would have made this film perfect.....

was if the shepherd at the end took him in, nursed him back to health and let Balthazar live the rest of his life on the Swiss farmlands in peace.

That would really make up for all the *beep* he's been through.

[–] rc-108 8 years ago

that was the ending I wanted...
but Bresson did better.

[–] Tchoutoye 12 years ago

The one thing that would have made this film perfect.....

...would be if it were directed by someone who is actually interested in telling a story properly.

[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

Yeah, Gerard was an incredible creep. But so was that "Arnold" guy. And the sh-theel who hid money in his socks. Etc. Etc. In fact, with the possible exception of the old woman, every single human character in this number was either an evil as-hole or a totally dumb dipsh-t - and usually both. Never seen a film as uncompromisingly, somberly misanthropic as this. And what made it almost annoying was that the petty evil that characterizes everybody, is pretty much treated as a given; it´s assumed, a normal state of affairs. And the terrible thing is that this view of Bresson´s is probably accurate. What a sad, depressing, tough film to watch - and an extraordinary one, too, both in terms of conception & execution. Bis zum bitteren Ende.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan