This morning when I looked at "The Flight of the Red Balloon" lying on our bistro table waiting to share its journey with me, I realized that I had been avoiding watching it because of how much I love Albert Lamorisse's Red Balloon from 1956. I would like to believe that it's a staple of every household (not just French), every language and art teacher's classroom, and a necessity for anyone who dares to let loose their imagination and dreams.
The first scene itself grabbed me with young Simon talking to a red balloon outside the subway entrance, so I settled down and let myself enjoy the rest. It spread a warmth inside me like when soft morning sunlight streams in through closed windows--all is lit, quiet, still, warm, and happy--oblivious of that which might have transpired the day before, lovingly inviting you to a fresh and a new beginning full of possibility.
Hou Hsiao Hsien, the 60-year-old born-in-China-raised-in-Taiwan filmmaker, packs in so much and with such adroitness that he makes everything seem simple.
The broader context of the film is dark -- frankly, realist -- a single mom, Suzanne, juggling work and care for her children (one of whom is away at school). In her struggle Suzanne races to get it to it all but winds up diluting the quality time she would spend with her 7- year old, Simon, were she not so devoted to her career in puppetry and theater (Juliette Binoche is brilliant as she gives voice to the puppets).
The child minder she hires is a Taiwanese film student, Song, who is quiet and aloof in her own way, her attention divided between taking care of Simon's needs and making progress on her film making project--a tribute to Lamorisse's Red Balloon.
Simon is self-absorbed as well. He moves from one thing to another, seamlessly, propelled by instinct and sub-consciously felt needs and desires, just as a boy his age would. We watch him practice piano, play on his Playstation, go for long walks in town with Song, speak to the red balloon, talk on the telephone, use the digital movie camera to help Song make her film, and register the adult world conflict and strife albeit peripherally.
Three different worlds and levels of consciousness and isolation. Yet, no one seems to make undue demands of one another and everyone seems to try to accommodate others' needs, and in doing so they spin a delicate web of verbal and mostly non-verbal communication-- facial expressions, body language, decor, and silence--as they meet the challenges of modern day living. Hou is able to find the reassuring simplicity in this complex world, and that's what tempers the dark hues and keeps the spirits high.
Explaining in an interview with Mathieu Menossi of événe.fr (January 2008) why he chose to re-make Lamorisse's film, Hou says, --and I translate this from French -- It's been fifty years since the original Red Balloon came out, but for me it persists like an old spirit. A soul that did not depart but continued on it's journey to contemplate our current world. (my translation)
Hou also says, --again, my translation -- The red balloon represents what resides in all of us in the form of childhood sensibilities and instinct and passion. And from my point of view, the red balloon is me, as the director.
The red balloon seems to watch over and observe everyone at play from a distance. It tells us that hope and color survive in adverse circumstances. While it does not interact with the characters in this story--save the very first scene--it does interact with us, the spectators, and has been placed there for us. The red balloon IS us, silently bobbing along, hovering, eavesdropping... It's Hou reminding us that we, too, can be playful and buoyant , rising above the vicissitudes of life that seem to tie us down. And since the balloon is silent, we can supply our own dialog as needed to complete our own story of the "flight." Ironically, but happily, we are captives of Hou's machinations.
Hou did not try re-make the same film. He paid homage to the original film by making another beautiful film, symbolically related to its predecessor. And in doing so, he also forced us to ask the question about the place and influence art has in our lives today. This is also a nod to music (piano lessons), painting (Félix Valloton's tableau in the Musée d'Orsay), oral folk traditions (the revival of puppetry as a valid and precious art form of its own), and of course the 7th art (Song making a film using her digital movie camera to pay homage to Lamorisse). The inter-textuality and the mingling of different cultures is particularly elegant and appropriate given the times we live in today.
Using the opposition between dark and light, banality and magic, pragmatism and innocence, adulthood and childhood, just like in Félix Vallonton's "le ballon" from 1899, Hou has created a masterpiece that offers layers of color and texture to the viewer with a patient eye.
The first scene itself grabbed me with young Simon talking to a red balloon outside the subway entrance, so I settled down and let myself enjoy the rest. It spread a warmth inside me like when soft morning sunlight streams in through closed windows--all is lit, quiet, still, warm, and happy--oblivious of that which might have transpired the day before, lovingly inviting you to a fresh and a new beginning full of possibility.
Hou Hsiao Hsien, the 60-year-old born-in-China-raised-in-Taiwan filmmaker, packs in so much and with such adroitness that he makes everything seem simple.
The broader context of the film is dark -- frankly, realist -- a single mom, Suzanne, juggling work and care for her children (one of whom is away at school). In her struggle Suzanne races to get it to it all but winds up diluting the quality time she would spend with her 7- year old, Simon, were she not so devoted to her career in puppetry and theater (Juliette Binoche is brilliant as she gives voice to the puppets).
The child minder she hires is a Taiwanese film student, Song, who is quiet and aloof in her own way, her attention divided between taking care of Simon's needs and making progress on her film making project--a tribute to Lamorisse's Red Balloon.
Simon is self-absorbed as well. He moves from one thing to another, seamlessly, propelled by instinct and sub-consciously felt needs and desires, just as a boy his age would. We watch him practice piano, play on his Playstation, go for long walks in town with Song, speak to the red balloon, talk on the telephone, use the digital movie camera to help Song make her film, and register the adult world conflict and strife albeit peripherally.
Three different worlds and levels of consciousness and isolation. Yet, no one seems to make undue demands of one another and everyone seems to try to accommodate others' needs, and in doing so they spin a delicate web of verbal and mostly non-verbal communication-- facial expressions, body language, decor, and silence--as they meet the challenges of modern day living. Hou is able to find the reassuring simplicity in this complex world, and that's what tempers the dark hues and keeps the spirits high.
Explaining in an interview with Mathieu Menossi of événe.fr (January 2008) why he chose to re-make Lamorisse's film, Hou says, --and I translate this from French -- It's been fifty years since the original Red Balloon came out, but for me it persists like an old spirit. A soul that did not depart but continued on it's journey to contemplate our current world. (my translation)
Hou also says, --again, my translation -- The red balloon represents what resides in all of us in the form of childhood sensibilities and instinct and passion. And from my point of view, the red balloon is me, as the director.
The red balloon seems to watch over and observe everyone at play from a distance. It tells us that hope and color survive in adverse circumstances. While it does not interact with the characters in this story--save the very first scene--it does interact with us, the spectators, and has been placed there for us. The red balloon IS us, silently bobbing along, hovering, eavesdropping... It's Hou reminding us that we, too, can be playful and buoyant , rising above the vicissitudes of life that seem to tie us down. And since the balloon is silent, we can supply our own dialog as needed to complete our own story of the "flight." Ironically, but happily, we are captives of Hou's machinations.
Hou did not try re-make the same film. He paid homage to the original film by making another beautiful film, symbolically related to its predecessor. And in doing so, he also forced us to ask the question about the place and influence art has in our lives today. This is also a nod to music (piano lessons), painting (Félix Valloton's tableau in the Musée d'Orsay), oral folk traditions (the revival of puppetry as a valid and precious art form of its own), and of course the 7th art (Song making a film using her digital movie camera to pay homage to Lamorisse). The inter-textuality and the mingling of different cultures is particularly elegant and appropriate given the times we live in today.
Using the opposition between dark and light, banality and magic, pragmatism and innocence, adulthood and childhood, just like in Félix Vallonton's "le ballon" from 1899, Hou has created a masterpiece that offers layers of color and texture to the viewer with a patient eye.