Most of French director Albert Lamorisse's films celebrate the miracle of flight, but few were as landmark as his 1956 short subject The Red Balloon. The story, told with a minimum of dialogue, concerns a little boy (played by the director's son Pascal) who comes across a helium-filled balloon. As he plays with his new acquisition, the boy discovers that the balloon seemingly has a mind of its own. The little red orb follows its new "master" all through the streets of Paris, then dogs the boy's
trail into the schoolroom, which drives the teacher to comic distraction. Towards the end, it seems as though boy and balloon will be parted forever....but director Lamorisse has a delightful surprise in store for us. In an unusual move, The Red Balloon in its American TV premiere was introduced by Ronald Reagan as an episode of the CBS anthology G.E. Theater on April 2, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Lamorisse's lyrical tale, largeky told through imagery, holds up extremely well, and it's still the only short feature to ever win a major Oscar (original screenplay).
Since Janus's barebones release of The Red Ballon comes with the 34-minute film and nothing more, highbrow parents might have to find other ways to entertain their kids for the day. Like, you know, Dora the Explorer.
The story of a boy and his toy, The Red Balloon is widely praised for its narrative and visual "purity," but not enough is said about the movie's delightful manipulation.
These are two unique and unforgettable family films -- one an essential part of world cinema, the other an underseen gem -- that a new generation deserves the chance to get acquainted with
The results made exciting, memorable cinema, but could just as easily have turned into disaster. There seems to be no escaping the darker side of innocence.
For an older film, I like the creativity of this short, the dull backgrounds as a backdrop with the infusion of bright colours is almost reminiscent of black, white and reds, used in films such as Sweeney Todd, so shows this in a much older age.
I felt this could have been a great film had there been more stories
coming off of the mini adventure. Many, more modern films have been modelled on such films like these, I wonder if this was one of those original style films to which people use as a reference?
No quotes approved yet for The Red Balloon (Le Ballon Rouge). Logged in users can submit quotes.
Submit a Quote from 'The Red Balloon (Le Ballon Rouge)'
A quote can be a single line from one character or a memorable dialog between several characters. Please make your quotes accurate. Quotes will be submitted for approval by the RT staff.
Example:
Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try. Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
63%
——
97%
Top Critic
