Film

Flight Of The Red Balloon (Le Voyage Du Ballon Rouge)

Cert: PG

Description: Neurotic and emotionally needy voice actress Suzanne lives with her young son Simon in Paris. Suzanne invests most of her energy in her work and in railing against the world, especially the boy's father who is nowhere to be seen. So Simon's upbringing is left to the nanny, Song, a Chinese-born film student who takes her young charge on trips around the capital city, firing his imagination with visits to the park or a delicious treat from a boulangerie. Meanwhile, Suzanne furiously rearranges the clutter in the apartment and engages in verbal warfare with her downstairs tenant, Marc, who has neglected to pay the rent.

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Dir: Hou Hsiao-Hsien.

Cast: Juliette Binoche, Song Fang, Simon Iteanu

Country: Tai/Fr.

Year: 2007.

Duration: 115mins

Something close to boredom

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By Derek Malcolm
13 Mar 2008

Hou Hsiao Hsien, the Taiwanese director, has made some of the most memorable films of the past 30 years. But this, alas, is not one of them.

The Flight of the Red Balloon is his first film made in the West. Its starting point is clearly Lamorisse's famous Red Balloon and it looks at France with an eye that is a little too charmed to seem real.

In the opening sequence, a mysterious red balloon follows seven-year-old Simon around Paris. His mother (Juliette Binoche) is a single parent who has engaged an Asian student as a part-time nanny. She is a bit overwhelmed by the complications of her life but soldiers on gallantly.

The film has little plot and, though elegantly filmed, little to say.

Charm seems to be its keynote but, despite Binoche's efforts, it often curdles into something close to boredom.