About animals
Anna Sewell’s novel Black Beauty has been made into several films. The one I watched was the 1994 version, in splendid color.
Robert Bresson’s tale of a donkey - Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) – comes in grim black and white.
I know there is a danger of over-romanticizing stories, but ultimately it is the writer who chooses the mood, message and content (and the ending) of the story.
Bresson gives us a cute, underdeveloped, mute donkey who really becomes the silent beast of burden. Bresson’s script revolves around a group of unsavoury, narcissistic characters. I don’t even know why he put in the donkey, other than perhaps to garner our sympathy towards him despite this acrid and bitter storyline.
Sewell’s story tells us of the redemptive powers of life, and of people. Animals suffer, but somehow, somewhere, a small miracle occurs when just the right master (despite the gruelling job) appears on the scene.
Like I said, romanticizing animal life can get a little tedious, but I would rather Sewell’s morality tale of a black stallion to Bresson’s silent mockery of a poor donkey.