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The Red Balloon

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For the educational charity, see The Red Balloon Learner Centres
The Red Balloon
File:Red balloon.jpg
DVD Cover
Directed byAlbert Lamorisse
Written byAlbert Lamorisse
Produced byAlbert Lamorisse
StarringPascal Lamorisse
CinematographyEdmond Séchan
Edited byPierre Gillette
Music byMaurice Leroux
Distributed byLopert Pictures Corporation
Janus Films
Release dates
October 15 1956
(France)
March 11 1957
(U.S.A.)
Running time
34 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench

The Red Balloon (French: Le Ballon rouge) (1956) is a fantasy short film, directed by award-winning French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse.[1]

The thirty-four minute short, which follows the adventures of a young boy who one day finds a sentient, mute, red balloon, was filmed in the Ménilmontant neighborhood of Paris, France.

It won numerous awards when released in its day, including an Oscar for Lamorisse for writing the best original screenplay in 1956. It is the only dialogue-free film ever to win the award. The film also became popular with children and educators.

Albert Lamorisse used his children as actors in the film. His son, Pascal Lamorisse, plays Pascal in the main role, and his daughter Sabine portrays a little girl.

Plot

The story, which has sound and virtually no dialogue, tells the story of Pascal (Pascal Lamorisse), who, on his way to school one morning, discovers a large helium-filled red balloon.

As Pascal plays with his new found toy, he realizes the balloon has a mind and will of its own, and it begins to follow Pascal wherever he goes, at times floating outside his bedroom window as Pascal's mother won't allow it in the house.

The little red balloon follows Pascal through the streets of Paris, and the pair draw inquisitive looks from adults and the envy of other children as they wander the streets. At one point the balloon enters Pascal's schoolroom which upsets his teacher.

In their wanderings around the neighborhood, Pascal and the balloon encounter a gang of bullies, and they destroy his new friend.

The film ends as the other balloons in Paris come to Pascal's aid and take him on a cluster balloon ride.

Cast

  • Pascal Lamorisse as Pascal
  • Georges Sellier
  • Vladimir Popov
  • Paul Perey
  • René Marion
  • Sabine Lamorisse as Little Girl
  • Michel Pezin

Critical reception

File:Redballoonflies.JPG
The balloons in Paris take Pascal on a cluster balloon ride over the city.

The film, since its first release in 1956, has generally received favorable reviews from film critics. When released in the United States, film critic for The New York Times, Bosley Crowther, hailed the simple story and praised director Lamorisse, and wrote, "Yet with the sensitive cooperation of his own beguiling son and with the gray-blue atmosphere of an old Paris quarter as the background for the shiny balloon, he has got here a tender, humorous drama of the ingenuousness of a child and, indeed, a poignant symbolization of dreams and the cruelty of those who puncture them."[2]

When The Red Balloon was re-released in the United States in late 2007 by Janus Films, Entertainment Weekly magazine film critic Owen Gleiberman, praised the film's direction and simple story line that reminded him of his youth, and wrote, "More than any other children's film, The Red Balloon turns me into a kid again whenever I see it...[to] see The Red Balloon is to laugh, and cry, at the impossible joy of being a child again."[3]

Film critic Brian Gibson wrote, "So far, this seems a post-Occupation France happy to forget the blood and death of Hitler's war a decade earlier. But soon people’s occasional, playful efforts to grab the floating, carefree balloon become grasping and destructive. In a gorgeous sequence, light streaming down alleys as children’s shoes clack and clatter on the cobblestones, the red globe bouncing between the walls, Pascal is hunted down for his floating pet. The film’s ballooning sense of hope and freedom is deflated by a fierce, squabbling mass. Then, fortunately, Lamorisse’s film floats off, with the breeze of magic-realism, into a feeling of escape and peace, The Red Balloon taking hold of Pascal, lifting him out of this rigid, petty, earthbound life."[4]

In a review in The Washington Post, critic Philip Kennicott had a cynical view of the film, and wrote, "[The film takes] place in a world of lies. Innocent lies? Not necessarily. The Red Balloon may be the most seamless fusion of capitalism and Christianity ever put on film. A young boy invests in a red balloon, the love of which places him on the outside of society. The balloon is hunted down and killed on a barren hilltop–think Calvary–by a mob of cruel boys. The ending, a bizarre emotional sucker punch, is straight out of the New Testament. Thus is investment rewarded–with Christian transcendence or, at least, an old-fashioned Assumption. This might be sweet. Or it might be a very cynical reduction of the primary impulse to religious faith."[5]

The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 100% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on ten reviews."[6]

Distribution

File:Redballoonimage338.jpg
Pascal and his sentient orb.

The film premiered and open wide in France on October 15, 1956, and was released in the United States on March 11, 1957.

The film has been featured in many film festivals throughout the years, including: the Wisconsin International Children's Film Festival; the Los Angeles Outfest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival; the Wisconsin Film Festival, and others.

The Red Balloon, in its American television premiere, was introduced by then actor, Ronald Reagan, as an episode of the CBS anthology General Electric Theater on April 2, 1961.[7]

A four minute clip of the film is on the rotating list of programming on Classic Arts Showcase, and is often aired on the free cable television channel that promotes the fine arts to the largest audience possible.

In late 2007, the film, along with director Albert Lamorisse's earlier classic short White Mane (1953), was restored and re-released by Janus Films in limited markets in the United States. The film was remastered by Janus Films in 35mm format for the release.[8]

Video and DVD

A laserdisc of the film was released by The Criterion Collection in 1986, and was produced by Criterion, Janus Films, and Voyager Press. Included in the disc was Lamorisse's award-winning short White Mane (1953).

Adaptations

The Red Balloon has inspired Le Voyage du Ballon Rouge, a 2007 French feature film, directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien and starring Juliette Binoche.[9]

Awards

Wins

Other wins

  • Best Film of the Decade Educational Film Award.[15]

References

  1. ^ The Red Balloon at IMDb.
  2. ^ Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, March 12, 1957. Last accessed: December 1, 2007.
  3. ^ Gleiberman, Owen. Entertainment Weekly, "Hope Floats," film review, November 30 2007.
  4. ^ Gibson, Brian. Vue Weekly, December 12 2007. Last accessed: February 26 2008.
  5. ^ Hunnicott, Philip. The Washington Post, "Red Balloon and White Mane: Childhood Colored by Adult Cynicism," film review, November 23 2007; Page C01. Last accessed: December 2 2007.
  6. ^ The Red Baloon at Rotten Tomatoes. Last accessed: February 26 2008.
  7. ^ The Red Balloon at AllMovieInvalid ID..
  8. ^ The Red Balloon at Janus Films; web site includes trailer of film for viewing. Last accessed December 3 2007
  9. ^ Le Voyage du ballon rouge at IMDb.
  10. ^ The Red Balloon, IMDb, ibid.
  11. ^ Awards lists of 1956, on the official web site of the Festival de Cannes.
  12. ^ The Red Balloon, IMDb, ibid.
  13. ^ BAFTA. The winners and nominees lists from 1950 to 1959, at the official web site of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
  14. ^ National Board of Review. Awards for 1957, NBR web site. Last accessed: December 2 2007.
  15. ^ Note is written on an English credited copy of the film. No reliable web source for this information.


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