While Suzanne is busy with producing her new Chinese puppet play based on an ancient Chinese text (求妻煮海人), she hires a Chinese film student, Song, as Simon's new nanny. This is Hou's first non-Asian film. There's a big red balloon that keeps following Simon. In the Camargue, France, a young boy bonds with a white haired horse that escaped from ranchers. Simon Iteanu and Juliette Binoche in "Flight of the Red Balloon." Flight of the Red Balloon DRAMA A little boy and his baby-sitter inhabit the same imaginary world: through their adventures they are followed by a strange red balloon. More of a tribute to than a remake of the classic 1956 French film The Red Balloon, Hou's version focuses less on the ever-presence of the flying balloon and more on the keenly observant eyes of Simon and Song. Rent Flight of the Red Balloon (2007) starring Juliette Binoche and Fang Song on DVD and Blu-ray. Check out our editors' picks for the movies and shows we're excited about this month, like Mortal Kombat, "Them," and Stowaway. 5 out of 5 stars. This time he incorporates a classic Chinese puppet story about a very determined hero: he meant it to describe Suzanne, who creates a new version of it. He says that once he had Simon's school and Suzanne's apartment, the film was safely under way. This FAQ is empty. The film won the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2007 Valladolid International Film Festival. It's a precise study of the quotidian, and since that quotidian is in Paris, it's particularly graceful and lovely, despite the themes of urban loneliness and stress, which seem to grow seamlessly out of the last film into this one. They did, quite convincingly.Hou's life has been full of puppets from childhood, and he made a film about a puppet master. These two things are enough to make Suzanne fly off the handle whenever she comes home. The first part in a new series of films produced by Musée d'Orsay, 'Flight of the Red Balloon' tells the story of a French family as seen through the eyes of a Chinese student. It's about a frazzled lady named Suzanne (Juliette Binoche) with over-bleached, unruly hair. Flight of the Red Balloon is explicitly an outsider’s movie, full of odd perspectives and founded on dislocation. Use the HTML below. From Wings to Parasite, here's a look back at all of the Best Picture Oscar winners in the history of the ceremony. With Juliette Binoche, Hippolyte Girardot, Simon Iteanu, Fang Song. Hou Hsiao-Hsien's Flight of the Red Balloon gives many possible answers. Inspired by Albert Lamorisse's classic 1956 Academy Award®-Winning short*, Flight of the Red Balloon is the latest masterwork from director Hou Hsiao Hsien (Three Times, Millennium Mambo). Flight of the Red Balloon (French: Le voyage du ballon rouge) is a 2007 French-Taiwanese film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. Directed by Hsiao-Hsien Hou. Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Taiwanese master Hou Hsiao Hsien just made a film in Japan, 'Café Lumiere.' Was this review helpful to you? Flight of the Red Balloon. The film opened the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival in May 2007.[1]. Inspired by Albert Lamorisse's 1956 Academy Award-winning classic, Flight of the Red Balloon, Hou expands on that film's key elements--a young boy, a red balloon, and Paris--to weave an achingly A highlight at the 2007 Cannes, Toronto, and … Song also starts shooting a little film of Simon with a red balloon.Hou admits he didn't know a lot about Paris. An excellent film gets the excellent treatment it deserves! “The Flight of the Red Balloon,” which follows Hou’s acclaimed “Three Times,” is a great example of the director’s even-hand and assured command of the medium. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? For that, she tries to evict her downstairs tenant Marc, who has repeatedly failed to pay his rent, while arguing on the phone with Pierre, Simon's father, who has gone off to Canada for two years to write a novel and who is rarely in touch. Her life is a little like her coiffureshe can't quite seem to control it. “Flight of the Red Balloon” is the first of a series financed by the Musée d’Orsay, and at least one scene had to be shot at the museum. A little boy and his baby-sitter inhabit the same imaginary world: through their adventures they are followed by a strange red balloon. Hou's homage to Albert Lamorisse's 1956 film “The Red Balloon” does have a red balloon, a little boy, and Paris, but Simon (Iteanu) doesn't wander the streets accompanied by the balloon so much as he wanders with his new nanny Song (Fang), a Taiwanese film student who serves as Hou's calm observer. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. With Simon, all is going well. Flight of the Red Balloon ★★ Le Voyage du Ballon Rouge 2008. The narrative is deceptively airy and pared down: Pascal, a young Parisian boy, retrieves a balloon tied to a lamppost, only to discover that it seems to have a mind and personality of its own. Certificate: 7 This is Hou at his most accessible, but there is more solidity to this film than might at first appear.An official selection of the New York Film Festival 2007. Abandoned by his father, a young boy is left in a state-run youth farm. Though Flight of the Red Balloon may generate little excitement, it provides continual aesthetic pleasure, and at the same time has the feel of daily life in every scene. The simplicity and emotional clarity of Albert Lamorisse’s 1956 The Red Balloon have made it one of the most beloved films of all time. The colors are rich and warm, and the image stays crisp throughout. It references the classic 1956 French short The Red Balloon directed by Albert Lamorisse. It is the first part in a new series of films produced by Musée d'Orsay, and tells the story of a French family as seen through the eyes of a Chinese student. Den røde ballongens reise It's in the nature of good film acting that Binoche's character, though sketched in only with a few brief scenes, seems quite three-dimensional. The thirty-five-minute short, which follows the adventures of a young boy who one day finds a sentient, mute, red balloon, was filmed in the Ménilmontant neighbourhood of Paris.. Lamorisse used his children as actors in the film. This is a method that can incorporate anything, so at the end the Musee d'Orsay is easily worked in, through Simon's class coming for a visit and looking at a painting by Félix Vallottonof a landscape with a red balloon. A young boy enlists the help of a balloon seller to send birthday wishes to his Mom, in the only way he knows how, in this simple story of loss and longing. Flight of the Red Balloon is a beautifully shot film from the biased p.o.v of a balloon, as the camera angelically floats to an equally beautiful score. This is Hou's first non-Asian film. Juliette Binoche: The Art of Being - Official Fansite. She has a seven-year-old boy named Simon (Simon Iteanu), with a fine profile and a big mop of hair, and an annoying downstairs lodger (Hipolyte Girardot), a friend of her absent boyfriend, who, it emerges, hasn't paid his rent in a year. "[5], The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008.[6]. The film was shot in August and September 2006 on location in Paris. In a random act of kindness, the town hair-dresser agrees to foster him on week-ends. Somehow he got hold of a copy of Adam Gopnik's book about the city, 'Paris to the Moon,' an enlightening and truly smart study of the French and their capital that grew out of the years when Gopnik was The New Yorker's correspondent therewhen he also had young a little boy along. The red balloon and the occasional judiciously placed pale yellow filter by Hou's DP Mark Lee Ping Bing make the Parisian interiors seem almost Chinese, and beautiful in their cozy clutter. He also brings in a visiting Chinese puppet master. A scene from "Flight of the Red Balloon." Starring Juliette Binoche, Simon Iteanu, Fang Song, Hippolyte Girardot, Louise … ©Chris Knipp 2007. Mr. Hou approached this task somewhat offhandedly. He provided a very detailed scenario (penned by Hou with co-writer and producer François Margolin) complete with full back stories, but the actors had to decide what to say in each of their scenes. Simon visits the Musée d'Orsay on a school trip, where his class is shown The Ball, a painting by Félix Vallotton in which a child chases a red ball. We watch seven-year-old Simon—played marvelously by Simon Iteanu—meander along … She develops a good relationship with mother and son, and translates for Suzanne's masterclass with a Chinese puppet master. This is Hou Hsiao-Hsien's first Western film. His daring, sophistication, and brilliance has been especially proven in two of his 21st century films, Café Lumiere and Flight of the Red Balloon. "Festival de Cannes: Le voyage du ballon rouge", "Le Voyage du Ballon Rouge (The Flight of the Red Balloon) (2007)", http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-04-01/film/floating-life/, "BFI | Sight & Sound | Flight of the Red Balloon (2006)", "Le Voyage du Ballon Rouge (The Flight of the Red Balloon) - Movie Reviews - Rotten Tomatoes", "Metacritic: 2008 Film Critic Top Ten Lists", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flight_of_the_Red_Balloon&oldid=986605740, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 1 November 2020, at 22:05. Written by A town in Fengjie county is gradually being demolished and flooded to make way for the Three Gorges Dam. "[4] Jonathan Rosenbaum of Chicago Reader likes the film as ''A relatively slight but sturdy work by Taiwanese master Hou Hsiao-hsien, this slice of contemporary urban life more or less does for Paris what his Cafe Lumiere did for Tokyo, albeit with less minimalism and more overt emotion. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 81% of 91 sampled critics and 85% of top critics gave the film positive reviews, with an average rating of 6.9 out of 10. (2007). Hou put both those things in his movie. 57 of 69 people found this review helpful. Film, Drama. From Gopnik Hou learned about how old Parisian cafes still have pinball machines ('flippers', the French call them). Suzanne calls in Song to act as interpreter for the puppet master during his visit, and also asks her to transfer some old family films to disk. The Flight of the Red Balloon is full of allusions to filmmaking, even to the art of making a balloon pulled around by a person look as though it’s floating free. The Red Balloon (French: Le ballon rouge) is a 1956 French fantasy comedy-drama featurette written, produced, and directed by Albert Lamorisse. He's happy with his young life. Suzanne's work is unusual. Like other auteur-artist filmmakers, he requires patience of his audience. Meanwhile, it is Binoche, blond and bothered, who proves to be Flight of the Red Balloon’s heart, the actress instinctively taking to Hou’s semi-improvisatory methods to craft an endearing (if not idyllic) portrait of motherhood under siege. Time Out says. View production, box office, & company info. It is the first part in a new series of films produced by Musée d'Orsay, and tells the story of a French family as seen through the eyes of a Chinese student. For her college project — a homage to Albert Lamorisse's famous 1956 film The Red Balloon — Song starts to film Simon. In Paris, Chinese cinema student Song Fang is hired to work as the nanny of Simon by his divorced mother Suzanne, who works voicing marionettes in a theater. The film was shot in August and September 2006 on location in Paris. Honored with opening night of the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival and a hit at the New York, Toronto and AFI fests, THE FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON is simply one of the most acclaimed films of 2008. But Song and Simon are calm souls, and they hit it off from the start. Flight of the Red Balloon 2007, NR, 113 min. She puts on Chinese puppet plays, for which she does all the voices. [2], J. Hoberman, writing in The Village Voice was particularly appreciative of the film stating, "Flight of the Red Balloon is contemplative but never static, and punctuated by passages of pure cinema". That tenant downstairs has become a real annoyance. The lines between filmmaker and story, actors and their characters, blur at times.Flight may be seen as a contrast of moods. Suzanne, a puppeteer, lives with her young son Simon in an apartment in Paris. The film was shot in August and September 2006 on location in Paris. A man and woman visit the town to locate their estranged spouses, and become witness to the societal changes. Changes of scene feel exactly right. It is based on the classic French short The Red Balloon directed by Albert Lamorisse. The Red Balloon (French: Le Ballon rouge) is a 1956 fantasy short film, directed by French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse. But nothing in particular has to happen, because he stages his scenes with such grace and specificity that it's a pleasure to watch them unfold; a lesson in life lived for its zen here-and-now-ness. Simon's father has been away as a writer in residence at a Montreal university for longer than he planned. As such, “Flight of the Red balloon is less a linear story and more a tonal poem of the tiny family’s life. And then she picks up Simon at school, introduces them, and takes them to the apartment.The Musee d'Orsay lent Hou a copy of Albert Lamorisse's 1956 classic 34-minute short 'The Red Balloon.' Suzanne is having troubles with her tenant Marc, who does not pay the rent, while she waits for the return of her older daughter Louise, who lives with her father in Brussels. Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. Summary: A highlight at the 2007 Cannes, Toronto, and New York film festivals, Flight of the Red Balloon is the latest masterpiece from Hou Hsiao Hsien. Helmer Hou does a sound job marshalling his tiny cast with Juliette Binoche effective as the put upon Suzanne. Occasionally perhaps here the absence of emotional conflicts or suspense leads to momentary longeurs, but one's still left feeling satisfied. Poster art for "Flight of the Red Balloon." The thirty-four minute short, which follows the adventures of a young boy who one day finds a sentient, mute, red balloon, was filmed … Replay Slideshow Previous slide Next slide. A wife and mother begins a downward emotional spiral, as her husband avoids their collapsing marriage by immersing himself in his 11 year-old daughter's quest to become a spelling bee champion. A young boy sneaks onto his grandfather's hot air balloon and together they travel over France. Two brothers and a sister witness the disappearance of their childhood memories when they must relinquish the family belongings to ensure their deceased mother's succession. Flight of the Red Balloon. '', On the other hand, Duane Byrge of Hollywood Reporter was not impressed. 5 out of 5 stars. The anamorphic widescreen transfer for Flight of the Red Balloon is top notch. This is a kind of homage to and riff on it. A red balloon with a mind of its own follows a little boy around the streets of Paris. Suzanne is having troubles with her tenant Marc, who does not pay the rent, while she waits for the return of her older daughter Louise, who lives with her father in Brussels. While Simon's older sister Louise is about to graduate from a high school in Brussels, Suzanne plans for Louise to apply for colleges in Paris. Flight of the Red Balloon. He also learned that the merry-go-round in the Jardin du Luxembourg has little rings the children catch on sticks as they ride around (like knights in the days of jousting). It is a lyrical, beautiful film that is engrossing despite its leisurely pace. Flight of the Red Balloon movie reviews & Metacritic score: A highlight at the 2007 Cannes, Toronto, and New York film festivals, Flight of the Red Balloon is the latest masterpiece from Hou Hsiao Hsien. A little boy and his baby-sitter inhabit the same imaginary world: through their adventures they are followed by a strange red balloon. Some 50 years later, Taiwanese auteur Hou Hsiao Hsien has made his first French-language film, the charming and subtle FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON, commissioned by the Musée d'Orsay and inspired by Lamorisse's children's classic. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Recommended. Both found Hou in foreign countries (in the former Japan, and in the latter France) making films dedicated to a master (Ozu in Lumiere) and an enduring masterpiece (Lamorisse's Red Balloon). Sound: The original French soundtrack has been mixed in Dolby 5.1, and it sounds great. Suzanne hugs Simon as if to draw comfort from his love and his serenity.Hou has a wonderfully light touch. Scenes from the new French film 'The Flight of the Red Balloon' courtesy of Madman. As the film begins, she picks up Song (Song Fang), a Taiwanese girl studying film-making, fluent in French, who is going to be a "child minder" for Simon. Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. Adventure. This, his first foray out of Asia to make a film, was commissioned by the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. Clever Hou, who is clearly a master of seizing the moment, can make you feel as much at home in Paris as any French director. [3] Kate Stables of Sight & Sound also highly praised the film, "Finding a serene and contemplative beauty in the quotidian world has long been Taiwanese master-minimalist Hou Hsiao Hsien's stock in trade... Hou brings the same depth and deliberation to the film's Parisian exterior... ultimately, it is cinema that is the film's sacred repository of memory and creativity. In Paris, Chinese cinema student Song Fang is hired to work as the nanny of Simon by his divorced mother Suzanne, who works voicing marionettes in a theater. In 1956, Albert Lamorisse made THE RED BALLOON, a short in which a young boy, played by his son, makes friends with a red balloon. Get unlimited DVD Movies & TV Shows delivered to your door with no … ‘Flowers of Shanghai’: Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s Masterpiece Gets A 4K Restoration Trailer, ‘The Calming’ Review: Song Fang’s Meditative Breakup Movie Is Cinematic Asmr, Wes Anderson Used Over 125 ‘French Dispatch’ Sets, Turned Felt Factory Into Film Studio, 60th Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or (1-22) and Un Certain Regard (23-42) competitors (2007), Favorite Short Film Rated at Least 8 Stars on IMDb. It references the classic 1956 French short The Red Balloon directed by Albert Lamorisse. Add the first question. Title: Math, spelling, flipper, wandering Paris with Song, catching the rings at the Jardin du Luxembourg, taking his piano lessons: the world according to Simon is full and good. "The imagery of the classic movie, where a spirited red balloon wafts unpredictably over Paris, never even attempts to reach a metaphorical height, nor does it even engage us compositionally. 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