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The Flight of the Red Balloon |
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Tuesday, 03 June 2008 |
 Starring Juliette Binoche, Song Fang; Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien
This is largely a film for fans of the director’s gentle, art-house style and Juliette Binoche. Otherwise, you’re in for a long haul, as a wilful balloon flies across Paris in pursuit of Simon, the son of harried Suzanne. Compressed into their small apartment, the boy finds some solace with his film-student nanny. Then, well, not much really.
Contrivance serves to move this slender story forward, though its repetitive, improvised dialogue soon grows tiring. The film is on firmer ground when Simon escapes the flat and engages with his neighbourhood; however most of the limited action takes place in the family’s claustrophobic, scruffy-chic apartment.
Hou’s eloquent style is writ large on this film, and while eye-catching, is undone by the paucity of content. Suzanne’s domestic situation, Simon’s desire to break out, his nanny’s fascination with The Red Balloon (a 1956 short used here as a thematic springboard) and indeed, the red balloon itself, while all interesting ideas, are not explored with much enthusiasm.
While engaging notions of loneliness, drift and beauty abound – the titular balloon serving as an obvious yet striking metaphor – The Flight of the Red Balloon becomes a kind of cinematic wallpaper: an elegant offering that one might well admire, but not necessarily embrace.
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