Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) – Filming Locations
Drama · Directed by Robert Bresson · Starring Walter Green, Anne Wiazemsky
The story of a donkey Balthazar as he is passed from owner to owner, some kind and some cruel but all with motivations beyond his understanding. Balthazar, whose life parallels that of his first keeper, Marie, is truly a beast of burden, suffering the sins of humankind. But despite his powerlessness, he accepts his fate nobly.
Where was Au Hasard Balthazar filmed?
- Fontainebleau, France, Fontainebleau – Opening scenes establishing Balthazar as a young donkey in rural pastoral landscapes. Bresson used the natural forests and farmland around Fontainebleau to establish the film's rural French setting and Balthazar's innocent beginning
- Seine Valley, France, Île-de-France – Balthazar's journey through French villages and countryside as he changes owners throughout his life. Bresson filmed extensively in the rural areas around Paris to document Balthazar's episodic encounters with different masters and the cycles of rural French life
- Dreux, France, Dreux – Multiple sequences showing Balthazar in village and farm settings with various owners. This Norman town and its rural surroundings provided authentic village and agricultural settings for key scenes documenting Balthazar's mistreatment and exploitation