i couldn't resist talking about one of my all time favourite shorts, Albert Lamorisse’s La Ballon Rouge (1956).
Lamorisse’s Red Balloon has to be one of the most visually stunning films i’ve seen to date, it recaptures the spirit et embodiment of 1930s poetic realism. the film is reminiscent of Jean Vigo’s classic Zéro de Conduite (1933), the keen sense of humor, critical representation of authority et candid portrayal of children/youth give the film the unique, poignant et fanciful tone that was present in Vigo’s film(s).
The Red Balloon's verité style {an inheritance from Italian Neo-Realism} heightens the sense of poetry in the images et makes it all the more extraordinary that we are actually witnessing the red balloon moving about anthropomorphically in a very real et everyday environment, with actual passersby, not rehearsed film extras. there is a wonderful moment early in the film where the red balloon almost bops an elderly woman in the street, she instinctively avoids it, then candidly turns et looks at the extraordinarily large red balloon rather bewildered.
in many ways The Red Balloon feels like the prototype of the French New Wave, Lamorisse's use of location shooting, predominantly hand-held camera and utilization of natural/available light, but more importantly is the strong sense of the director/auteur telling a personal story in his own way, with the spontaneity et innovation that would come to define "New Wave" filmmaking around the world. there is a stunningly long held-held tracking shot in the beginning of the film when Pascal is running with the red balloon down a cold gray Parisian street, trying to get to school on time {because he was not allowed on the bus with the balloon!}, this energetic tracking shot evokes a sense of cinematic jouissance, the total liberation of camera movement et action that François Truffaut's subsequent masterpiece The 400 Blows (1959) put to great use.
it’s great that the director used his own son, Pascal as the protagonist of the film, his intimate relationship and report with him produces a memorably touching et candid performance. the boys sombre gray pants et sweater perfectly express the mundane et repressive society he inhabits, which is beautifully contrasted by the vibrancy of the red balloon who befriends Pascal et brings some much needed colour to his life.
the films finale is a spectacular symphony, a celebration of colour and movement, of wistful innocence, of cinema itself … it is one of the greatest et most “uplifting” cinematic endings full stop. The Red Balloon recaptures the innocence et wonder of childhood, but it also conjures up the same childish innocence and wonder that existed at the advent of cinema when it felt like we were really seeing things for the first time. the films of the Lumiere Brothers and Georges Méliès, one showed us that anything was possible et the other revealed to us the sublime beauty that existed in our everyday lives and surroundings, the eternal spirit of “cinema” is alive in The Red Balloon!
here is a link to the film on youtube, it is posted in three parts. enjoy!
i would also recommend watching Taiwanese master Hou Hsiao-Hsien's homage; Flight of the Red Balloon (2007).
{1956, 34mins, 35mm, colour, French}
Lamorisse’s Red Balloon has to be one of the most visually stunning films i’ve seen to date, it recaptures the spirit et embodiment of 1930s poetic realism. the film is reminiscent of Jean Vigo’s classic Zéro de Conduite (1933), the keen sense of humor, critical representation of authority et candid portrayal of children/youth give the film the unique, poignant et fanciful tone that was present in Vigo’s film(s).
The Red Balloon's verité style {an inheritance from Italian Neo-Realism} heightens the sense of poetry in the images et makes it all the more extraordinary that we are actually witnessing the red balloon moving about anthropomorphically in a very real et everyday environment, with actual passersby, not rehearsed film extras. there is a wonderful moment early in the film where the red balloon almost bops an elderly woman in the street, she instinctively avoids it, then candidly turns et looks at the extraordinarily large red balloon rather bewildered.
in many ways The Red Balloon feels like the prototype of the French New Wave, Lamorisse's use of location shooting, predominantly hand-held camera and utilization of natural/available light, but more importantly is the strong sense of the director/auteur telling a personal story in his own way, with the spontaneity et innovation that would come to define "New Wave" filmmaking around the world. there is a stunningly long held-held tracking shot in the beginning of the film when Pascal is running with the red balloon down a cold gray Parisian street, trying to get to school on time {because he was not allowed on the bus with the balloon!}, this energetic tracking shot evokes a sense of cinematic jouissance, the total liberation of camera movement et action that François Truffaut's subsequent masterpiece The 400 Blows (1959) put to great use.
it’s great that the director used his own son, Pascal as the protagonist of the film, his intimate relationship and report with him produces a memorably touching et candid performance. the boys sombre gray pants et sweater perfectly express the mundane et repressive society he inhabits, which is beautifully contrasted by the vibrancy of the red balloon who befriends Pascal et brings some much needed colour to his life.
the films finale is a spectacular symphony, a celebration of colour and movement, of wistful innocence, of cinema itself … it is one of the greatest et most “uplifting” cinematic endings full stop. The Red Balloon recaptures the innocence et wonder of childhood, but it also conjures up the same childish innocence and wonder that existed at the advent of cinema when it felt like we were really seeing things for the first time. the films of the Lumiere Brothers and Georges Méliès, one showed us that anything was possible et the other revealed to us the sublime beauty that existed in our everyday lives and surroundings, the eternal spirit of “cinema” is alive in The Red Balloon!
here is a link to the film on youtube, it is posted in three parts. enjoy!
i would also recommend watching Taiwanese master Hou Hsiao-Hsien's homage; Flight of the Red Balloon (2007).
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