Apr 07 2008
Flight of the Red Balloon
When I was young I was mesmerized by a movie/short film I saw about a young boy and his red balloon. I have never seen the film since, but have always wanted to, and I never forgot it. It was one of those little treasures that I had found that I’d hoped I would run into again someday.
As I was reading my some of my favorite sites this morning, I discovered that the film I saw was Albert Lamorisse’s “The Red Balloon, Flight…,” and that there’s a new movie that was inspired by this film: “Flight of the Red Balloon” from Hou Hsiao Hsien.
Jason Morehead at Opus comments that the movie “tells the story of a young boy and his babysitter as they make their way through Paris. Juliette Binoche stars as the boy’s mother, a harried woman with little time for her son. Sounds threadbare, I know, but Hou’s films are not necessarily about plot, but rather observing, patiently, the little details.”
The movie is currently playing in select theaters, and you can catch the trailer via YouTube:
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