Review of Flight of the Red Balloon (2007) by Andreya E — 26 Aug 2008

I don't know where to begin about this movie. There are a few things I admired about it. However, I wouldn't call the watching experience enjoyable at all. The scenes tend to be long captures. It is tolerable when the director uses it to show the day-to-day, regular activities of the characters in the movie. However, the frequent insertions of the red balloon everywhere got on my nerves after a while. I'm still not sure what the significance of it was (other than as a homage to the short movie "The Red Balloon", which is mentioned a couple of times in the movie).

As mentioned above, the points where the director focuses on the daily interactions of the characters are splendid. There is so much of realism in it that it does not look scripted at all. Those scenes shot inside the apartment, memorably the piano-tuning one, are so powerful in its flow and realism. Combine that with the small, confined space and the clutter all around, you get a strong sense of a pressure cooker of conversations, emotions and relationships. It is interesting how the most intense scenes were shot in a closed, claustrophobic area - the apartment, the car.

The character of Suzanne, with her emotional ups and downs, would have been a difficult role to perform. Juliette Binoche makes it look tremendously easy. Her performance fleshes out every nuance of the personality -- the spontaneity, the scatterbrained on-the-rush, the externalized emotions -- and not for a moment do you doubt the consistency of the performance. I was also impressed during the puppet scene. That voice range would not be easy to do. Simon Iteanu is adorable as the young, dreamy Simon. Fang Song's soft-spoken, languid motions is a stark contrast to Suzanne's more explosive nature. Perhaps the director was aiming for it to show the cultural contrast too?

Apart from those occasional balloon sequences, I found the seemingly random side stories actually a good way of showing the characters. It was especially interesting to watch the one with Louise. The sister he had never seen is Simon's imaginary friend. He develops a relationship with her, but finds it extremely awkward talking to her in real life. Meanwhile, the difficulty in communication is highlighted in the strained conversation between Suzanne and Louise. There is a sad twist where all of Suzanne's troubles go to naught when her daughter decides not to visit after all.