I didn't cry
I loved this film, the ending is touching but it didnt put me on tears like many people. wHY??
shareBecause you have no soul.
My top 20:
http://www.ymdb.com/tyler-l/l28735_ukuk.html
MovieChat Forums > Au hasard Balthazar (1966) Discussion > I didn't cry
It is a good film but not as great or as moving as people make out.
The problem is that it works only when it focusses on the donkey. The scenes which are centred around Marie, Gerard and the rest seem too self consciously cinematic and detract from the pathos we feel for the donkey. THe second half of the film is much more effective than the first, and the scene where balthazar lies down to die is a great one, but not as moving as it would ahve been had we been firmly with the him all through the film.
I sort of agree with what you mean. I might've put this movie in like my top 20 or something had it been like this film I saw as a kid called the Bear, which was actually a film mostly all about the life of a bear. Now, I knew I wouldn't get that from Bresson witht the donkey, as he was also placing parallels with him and Marie. I don't agree in that I still think many of the scenes with Marie and Gerard are quite good because of the way Bresson directs them, to the point where they're as worn down as the donkey is, though perhaps in different ways. But I do agree to the extent that it might have been a little more worthwhile had it been more on Balthazar, on those little moments of reality that, like the rest of us, takes its toll.
"Watch out, he's got a candy cane!"
<i>It is a good film but not as great or as moving as people make out.
The problem is that it works only when it focusses on the donkey. The scenes which are centred around Marie, Gerard and the rest seem too self consciously cinematic and detract from the pathos we feel for the donkey. THe second half of the film is much more effective than the first, and the scene where balthazar lies down to die is a great one, but not as moving as it would ahve been had we been firmly with the him all through the film.</i>
Totally correct. I was longing to see more of the animal but the film was just all over the place with a disparate bunch of folks who seem to know each other, but we never really find out how or why. The human characters were poorly fleshed out and I found the whole film disjointed. Mouchette is a materpiece, this was merely okay.
I have watched this and cried, and I've watched it and haven't. However, the times I haven't cried I've just been starring at the screen as it flickers. I was incredibly moved, but instead of focusing on the hopelessness and despair the movie has portrayed, I instead was drawn to a different facet, the fact that it was over for him and that his death was, in my opinion, beautiful. It was kind of an awe, catabasis type feeling.
I do think, however, that your mood has an effect on what you notice and what you don't in this movie.
The closest thing I"ve ever found to compare it to is the ending knee play of Philip Glass's "Einstein on the Beach". Many people do cry and this while I remain moved and smiling softly at it's aesthetic resolution.
jared
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I did not cry during this film, and felt somewhat unmoved. Yet half an hour later after thinking of the images that had passed before my eyes not too long ago and after contemplating their weight I burst into tears. This is a truly beautiful film.
share[deleted]
Exactly, this is what I feel as well.
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The darker the shadow, the more radiant the light it beams.
I didn't cry either, but the film certainly has all the elements to evoke such emotions. I think that Bresson does it so that it will either be deeply meaningful, or simply admirable.
If everyone was deeply moved to the point of tears, it wouldn't be what it is; part of what makes a film great is its ability to affect only a select group of people.
Last film seen: Audition 9/10
Because not everybody is the same.
shareI didn't cry either and, to refute the reasoning of another poster here, I do have a soul. Many great films have gotten a strong emotional response from me, but in this case it was not sadness, but elation to see the word 'Fin' on the screen and know the film was finally over.
I'll give some other Bresson films a chance, but so far Ozu (who is sometimes compared with him -- along with Dreyer) kicks his a.. all over the place. Ozu places on my list of great filmmakers. Ozu was a genius. An Ozu film is a work of art. My first Bresson film found me trying to keep my eyelids from closing.
"Sure, Bresson is 'like' Ozu, but with much more camera movement and me caring a whole lot less".
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If you're watching 'Fullscreen' DVDs, you aren't getting the whole picture.
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