I just want to toss out an interpretation or two that I didn't see elsewhere.
Balthasar is a donkey and is presented as a blank slate. This allows others to interpret and decide on his role. For Marie, he is a companion offering comfort. For Marie's father, Balthasar is an embarrassment, representing backwardness. For Gerard, the donkey is a sort of antagonist and offers a chance to vent his anger. At the circus, Balthasar becomes a source of entertainment and mystery to the spectators. For most of his other owners, Balthasar is merely a beast of burden designed for work and given little thought. Arnold seems to have more sympathy for B-, perhaps seeing him as a fellow outcast. Maybe the message to take from this is that the world we see is a reflection of that which is inside of us.
Another idea I had is that Balthasar can be thought of as a stand-in for the viewer. We are passively watching the film and have no control over the events unfolding. If the director wants to make us suffer through watching a donkey's tail set on fire, we have little choice but to endure it. For the duration of the film, the director is the unseen god of the world we are immersed in.
Otherwise, I was at times bothered by the zombified acting and listless line readings. The lack of emotion and response from the people in the film made their lives appear similar to that of an animal. In the big picture, circumstance, chance and ultimately death serve to undermine human illusions of free will. Being meek and passive didn't work out so well for either Balthasar or Marie. There is a lot of religious allegory throughout, but it seemed rather jumbled. While the story itself is intentionally choppy and missing chunks of explication. A tale told by a donkey, full of stolidness and farming, signifying something?
Balthasar is a donkey and is presented as a blank slate. This allows others to interpret and decide on his role. For Marie, he is a companion offering comfort. For Marie's father, Balthasar is an embarrassment, representing backwardness. For Gerard, the donkey is a sort of antagonist and offers a chance to vent his anger. At the circus, Balthasar becomes a source of entertainment and mystery to the spectators. For most of his other owners, Balthasar is merely a beast of burden designed for work and given little thought. Arnold seems to have more sympathy for B-, perhaps seeing him as a fellow outcast. Maybe the message to take from this is that the world we see is a reflection of that which is inside of us.
Another idea I had is that Balthasar can be thought of as a stand-in for the viewer. We are passively watching the film and have no control over the events unfolding. If the director wants to make us suffer through watching a donkey's tail set on fire, we have little choice but to endure it. For the duration of the film, the director is the unseen god of the world we are immersed in.
Otherwise, I was at times bothered by the zombified acting and listless line readings. The lack of emotion and response from the people in the film made their lives appear similar to that of an animal. In the big picture, circumstance, chance and ultimately death serve to undermine human illusions of free will. Being meek and passive didn't work out so well for either Balthasar or Marie. There is a lot of religious allegory throughout, but it seemed rather jumbled. While the story itself is intentionally choppy and missing chunks of explication. A tale told by a donkey, full of stolidness and farming, signifying something?