Au hasard Balthazar Touchez pas au grisbi

Stunning new prints of Robert Bresson's sublime allegory Au hasard Balthazar and Jacques Becker's stylish crime caper Touchez pas au grisbi, with Jean Gabin and Jeanne Moreau.

Second feature start time: 8:45 pm. Seen here in a stunningly restored print, Au hasard Balthazar is arguably Robert Bresson's masterpiece. At once heartbreaking and sublime, it's the story of three rural children who baptize their donkey, Balthazar, and the subsequent tribulations the donkey endures. As critic J. Hoberman writes, "This expressionless donkey is the most eloquent of creatures—he's pure existence." (1966, 95 mins.)

Loosely translated as "don't touch the loot," Touchez pas au grisbi is Jacques Becker's poetic evocation of the criminal underworld of Paris's Montmartre district. The stylish crime caper stars Jean Gabin and a young, pony-tailed Jeanne Moreau. As Franois Truffaut noted in his original Cahiers du Cinema rave, the film's "real subjects are growing old and friendship." (1954, 94 mins.)