The appeal of Frederick Tristan's novel about the dreamlike odyssey of a young man across sixteenth-century Germany is evident for a filmmaker like Wojciech Has. Indeed, one can't imagine any other director pulling it off with the kind of haunting visuals that befit the visionary hero. Balthazar, a teenage orphan, has a crippling stutter and a vivid imagination. He conjures up the angel Gabriel, who shows him how to walk through fire, and materializes his deceased parents (Emmanuele Riva plays his long-dead mother) when he needs them. He is taken in hand by a wise master (Michael Lonsdale) as he embarks on a search for truth in a land plagued by leprosy and inquisition. Balthazar's adventures are marked in a wealth of images in which the real and its dreamed counterpart are indistinguishable. "Has is endowed with a genius for multi-dimensional images and for journeys from the visible to the invisible. The film perfectly reflects his taste for mystery and science, occult undertakings and poetry." (Gérard Pangon, Télérama)