robert bresson is often called a painter of films. by using non-actors and purging his films of all theatricality, he forces us to go deeper into ourselves and experience emotion with surprising intensity. altho his films are primarily cerebral (meticulously choreographed with a kind of clarity that requires emotional distance), the relentless violence of every day life, of what we call reality, builds up gradually over the course of the film until it becomes unbearable. the ending (in both “au hasard balthazar” and “mouchette”) provides a much needed emotional release, not through the projection of actors but through our own internal response to the film. what better way to unleash that response than to combine the film’s simple, much awaited denouement with divine music (schubert’s piano sonata no. 20). a masterpiece.