Au Hazard Balthazar (World Classics) DVD

Robert Bresson's cinematic masterpiece is the transcendent story of a saint-like donkey ruthlessly victimized by human greed and folly. Reared in the idyllic French countryside by doting young children, the donkey Balthazar is soon put into bondage before spurning his master and finding his way to the loving Marie, a poor, beautiful girl whose parallel destiny sees her abused by the village drunks and delinquents. Like Balthazar, she finds it difficult to resist these hostile men, especially the vicious Gerard, who also attacks the donkey out of twisted jealousy. Jean-Luc Godard famously called Au Hasard Balthazar "the world in an hour and a half", and Bresson brilliantly combines subtle performances from non-professional actors with sublime imagery to create a moving allegory of sacrifice, suffering and redemption.