Review of Flight of the Red Balloon (2007) by Canem C — 04 Sep 2008

Hou Hsiao Hsien's Flight of the Red Balloon will be called many things:

A piece of art.

A tribute to the 1956 classic short (which I fondly remember!!!).

Hou's initial voyage into French-spoken films.

A snapshot about a family and their struggles (sort of).

A tribute to the beauty of France.

A daring leap where the dialogue is improvised.

But it can also be called boring, ill-paced, and pointless. While the acting, led by Juliette Binoche, is good, I kept waiting for something to happen. Anything to happen. It was like watching water drip from a faucet. You know if it hits a pools of standing water, you will see ripples. There were no ripples. Just slow, solitary, drips.

The story revolves around a mother, her child, a nanny, assorted others and an occassional appearance by the red balloon. But I couldn't tell you the plot, because there was none to be found. It was a snippet of life well acted and filmed, but there was no thread to tease you to want more, even though I wondered often where it would lead. And the red balloon, so vitally important in the 1956 short, seemed like it was introduced, ignored, then sliced in from time to time. It was not a pivotal character to me, more like a guest star in a tv hospital or cop show. Good for ratings, but not really necessary.

Ultimately, the ending itself was satisfying, though again had no connection to anything else. A small group of children analyzing a painting. A teacher helping them to see "more." All the while a red balloon peeks in and then gently, unassumedly, floats away. Perhaps if the film were more centered on the child and his path, THEN my attention and imagination would have been more engaged, but......empty space surrounded by talented performers is still...empty space.

4 out of 10 only because of the acting and filming......