Synopsis

This thoughtful and unique French film reveals the surprisingly deep connection between Marie (Anne Wiazemsky), a sensitive farm girl, and her cherished donkey, Balthazar.

Though Marie and Balthazar are eventually separated when she gets older, the tale follows both the young woman and the donkey as they contend with the hardships of the world.

Although Marie and Balthazar often encounter cruelty from the various people they meet, they also find small moments of beauty.



Cast: Anne Wiazemsky, Walter Green, François Lafarge, Philippe Asselin, Nathalie Joyaut, Jean-Claude Guilbert, Pierre Klossowski, Jean-Joel Barbier, François Sullerot, Marie-Claire Fremont, Jacques Sorbets, Jean Rémignard


The film premièred at the 1966 Venice Film Festival where it won the OCIC (International Catholic Organization for Cinema) Award, the San Giorgio Prize, and the New Cinema Award.

Au Hasard Balthazar is the inspiration for 1977 Tamil-language film Agraharathil Kazhutai directed by Indian director John Abraham. The film was critically acclaimed upon its release and in 2013 and it was listed in IBN Live's 100 Greatest Indian movies of all time.

In 1978, Agraharathil Kazhutai won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil at the 25th National Film Awards.

Other films inspired by Au Hasard Balthazar include Todd Solondz's Wiener-Dog (2016) and Jerzy Skolimowski's EO (2022).

Au Hasard Balthazar was ranked sixteenth on the 2012 critics' poll of "the greatest films of all time" conducted by the film magazine Sight & Sound. It was also 21st in the directors' poll, receiving 18 votes from filmmakers including Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Béla Tarr.

It was also the first-place choice of Michael Haneke in the 2002 poll. The German filmmaker Werner Herzog praised the film and called it "incredible". The American filmmaker Wes Anderson listed the film as one of his favorite films in the Criterion Collection library.

The American filmmaker Richard Linklater listed the film in his top 10 film list from the Criterion Collection. In 2018 the film ranked 52nd on the BBC's list of the 100 greatest foreign-language films, as voted on by 209 film critics from 43 countries.