Question: Is Gerard quite possibly the most hateful character in the history of cinema? By the end of the movie, whenever he came on screen, I wanted to physically attack my TV set.
shareYes because he's unrepentant, and he gets away with everything. It's maddening, but there are sociopaths in this world. In most Hollywood movies, he would get his comeuppance by the end of the film. It was clever of Bresson to just let him get off scot-free.
shareI totally despised him. In fact he was so believable, I think he wasn't even acting. I think he was an *beep* in real life too.
shareI could not agree more. I was extremely angry at him and wanted to beat him senseless, and the fact that I couldn't (and that no one in the movie did) made me feel even more hopeless and powerless than I already did about the movie to begin with. I would say that these feelings are certainly a testament to the power of this film--it seems so real, to the point that it is almost unbearable to watch.
shareHear, hear.
I'd probably deck the actor for real if I ever see him, LOL. Testament of a good acting!
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Michael Haneke's work is insipid. Lars von Trier's work is a walk in the park.
I saw the film again yesterday -- for the second time it was, I believe -- and it really struck me that, for all the ways in which this and other Bresson films don't fit any typical movie-making mold, Gerard could likely top a "Greatest Villians in Film" list. In a film full of horrible human beings (including Marie, the one who comes closest to actually treating Balthasar, if not other people, well), Gerard really leaves the 'best' impression -- by leaving a horrible one.
One thing I thought about contributing to his top-dog status as a movie badguy is just how -- *relentless* he is. The film's narrative structure assists him in this. Just as people come in and out of Balthasar's life, and vicery versey, the film's attention goes back and forth between the donkey and the people. So, you'll be given a break from Gerard's horribleness for a time, then he'll show up again and do something utterly horrible, while displaying utterly hateful attitude. He just *keeps coming back.*
In case you might've not caught my drift, I think Gerard's horrible.
Matthew
Hm, I don't know how far ahead he can rank in a "Best Villains in Film" list considering, in the end, Gerard is simply a big fish in a small pond. Also he never had any challenge to contend with. I think to stand at the top of a villain list, the challenge you face has to be a gigantic one (or at least you have to be the apex predator in the ocean). With how self-abusive the villagers where Gerard live were, I'd say he had his work cut out for him.
On a separate note, AHB is one of the very few films where I could truly say, whatever happened to the characters (with the exception of Gerard, since nothing bad happened to him), I had no sympathy for them because they deserved it. They (especially Marie, her father, and the village drunk) had no courage, dignity, and forbearance as human beings to rise above their sufferings & chose either to have "life" had their way with them (Marie & the drunk especially so) or take their misguided revenge on the whole world (Marie's father & uncle).
This is perhaps the film which most capably showed how ugly human beings are (which makes me feel weird Godard called this the world in an hour and a half, as if us human beings aren't capable to rise above our sufferings). While I don't think it is Bresson's best film (I think that title belongs to A Gentle Woman), I do think it's his overall bleakest. Actually, I just now realize every movie Bresson directed post Pickpocket showed his general disdain of humanity.
Weird, I consider Bresson to be one of the Five Heavenly Kings of Faith-Based Filmmakers (the other 4 being Bergman, Tarkovsky, Dreyer and Mizoguchi), but at the same time, I also consider him to belong to be one of the Two Greatest Misantrophe Filmmakers (the other being Kubrick).
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My Top 100 Favorite Films: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls071561044/
armanmarok,
I definitely get your first point there, but I guess I don't think of that as a requirement for the title of worst villain -- and I think it's because of what you later bring up at the beginning of your third paragraph. Gerard is definitely just a little *bleep* -- but his capacity for evil, altho within only his own little sphere, is utterly bottomless. All the bad traits you apply to those other characters are spot-on, but Gerard is just so, again, relentlessly evil and hatable.
I haven't seen Une femme douce yet, but I really want to see all of Bresson. My favorite is Diary of a Country Priest, but A Man Escaped, Pickpocket and Au Hasard Balthazar are all really not that far behind it for me. For that matter, The Trial of Joan of Arc and Mouchette are then not that far behind those three. The only post-Mouchette Bresson I've seen so far is The Devil, Probably, which I quite liked, but, after only one viewing, at least, is my least-favorite Bresson. Now, THAT film is pretty dang bleak, but I guess Balthazar, with it's critique of human nature, its lack of virtue and it cornucopia of faults, is even bleaker... oh, and that ending sure don't hurt, eidah.
Matthew
While I agree Gerard is endlessly detestable, I also believe evil can be applied to different scopes and ranks. There's nothing even remotely decent about Gerard, but in the end, his foes are timid self-loathing villagers. Even though he shares the same qualities as the other names I mentioned, pound per pound, he is a big fish in a small pond compared to those names.
I think Une Femme Douce is one of the 3 greatest films about disintegration of marriage (alongside La Notte & Scenes From a Marriage) and one of the most potent cinematic indictments of materialistic societies. It is the most heartfelt of the Bresson films I've watched (I like Angels of Sin, The Ladies of Bologne, and A Man Escaped a lot, but Priest, Balthazar, Pickpocket, Joan, Mouchette, and L'Argent are too cold to my liking) and one that resonates the most to real life as far as I'm concerned (I'm thankful the world around me isn't as abysmal as the world of Balthazar, at least). The lack of religious metaphors and symbolism also helped to elevate my enjoyment of Une Femme Douce (I practice a certain religion, but no one who knew me in person would mistake me for being too religious). And the fact that it contains, perhaps, the most beautiful French screen actress in her greatest performance doesn't hurt either.
P.S: Marika Green, Anne Wiazemsky, and Dominique Sanda are three living proofs that Bresson's on-screen females taste equaled Bergman's and Hitchcock's.
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My Top 100 Favorite Films: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls071561044/
And yet the girl was attracted to him, much more than to the normal guy who wanted to marry her. One of the many correct comments about the absurdity and loathsomeness of life that the film makes. I know plenty of cases in which girls are attracted to worthless Gerard-types.
share"Girls like jerks" is, sadly, true (for the most part, anyway).
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My Top 100 Favorite Films: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls071561044/
Definitely one of the most hateful ones. But I would say El Jaibo from Buñuel's Los Olvidados is the most infuriating antagonist of all time.
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-You won't forget me now?share
-No. I've got nobody else to remember.