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I've noticed that many non-Christians have a Jesus complex. John Lennon was famous for saying that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus." And I've heard artists say things like "I am god", when they really mean "I am God." In other words, supreme creators.
Well, after seeing several Bresson films, and reviewing both internet and book sources about his views, methods and background, I can only conclude that Bresson himself has a Christ complex.
This is most apparent in his film about a donkey "Au Hazard Balthazar."
As one writer put it:
The Christ-like nature [of Balthazar's suffering] is particularly evident in the scenes where Balthazar is baptized, where he leads the funeral cortege, and where he dies among a flock of sheep, a Lamb of God.1 |
Bresson seems to confuse the donkey with the humble beast that carried Mary to the stable, and Jesus through Jerusalem. But just as those who mean "I am God", when they actually say "I am god", I think Bresson is clear about his intentions. He doesn’t mean the beast of burden, he means Christ himself.
Now, why should it bother me that Bresson uses a lowly donkey to present a Christ-like figure?
Because he has the behavior all wrong.
Christ was never meek, silent nor submissive, like this donkey is portrayed. Yes, the donkey gallops off once in a while (maybe just once) at the atrocities performed against him, but for the most part, he just stays and bears it.
Christ came to suffer, with fellow-men, certainly. But he also came to teach, and to provide a point for salvation. And He wasn't a meek secondary character who silently watched humanity move in its destructive course.
So, what's Bresson's point?
Subtly, by playing at our emotions, Bresson is trying to capture our sympathy for this innocuous donkey.
By implication, this then means that Jesus, who is as "lovable" as this donkey, is also as ineffective.
Therefore, the most we can feel for this donkey/Christ is a sense of pity, and eventually, like I did, contempt.
Bresson’s heretic message, by making us subliminally dislike this little beast, is actually that Christ is as equally offensive and ineffective.
And worse. Bresson might indeed have this Christ complex where he deems himself and his creations greater than the Son of God Himself. And he has to find a way to diminish Him.
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1 Lindley Hanlon. Fragments: Bresson's Film Style. Rutherford [N.J.]Press, c1986.