The movie plays like a concerto.

If one were looking for a perfectly realized film, Au Hasard Balthazar would be as likely a candidate as any.

The film could have sunk beneath this symbolic burden, yet it is lightened by the speed and precision of Bresson's art; he could derive more from one pair of hands than most directors can from two hours of blood and guts.

Much of Au hasard Balthazar’s transcendental value derives from its explicit openness to theological interpretation...