Legendary French filmmaker Robert Bresson was widely known for his process of getting his (largely non-professional) actors to repeat scenes over and over again with the intention of stripping their performance of all affectation and sense of style. No such process was required for directing the star of his classic movie Au Hasard Balthazar, which tells the story of a donkey's life with a cool precision which only Bresson could achieve. His "pure cinematography" had already been used to great effect on films like A Man Escaped, and here this minimalist style works to create an experience of total immersion, with Balthazar's experiences speaking to something timeless about humanity. Few filmmakers are regarding in such high esteem as Robert Bresson (he influenced Andrei Tarkovsky and Jean Luc-Godard once said, "Robert Bresson is French cinema"), while few movies are as profound as Au Hasard Balthazar.
