Like most of the dramatic French films that I have seen in the last five years The Le Voyage du ballon rouge is a slow and moving film about a young boy Simon and his new babysitter Song (played by Simon Iteanu and Fang Song, respectfully) who happen to connect through his imaginary world and cinema by the appearance of a red balloon which happens to weave in and out of their lives like a voyeur.
The young boy’s mother Suzanne (Juliette Binoche) is a voice performer for a puppet troop who lives in a crowded flat with a neighbor that hasn’t paid rent in a long while. While trying to evict her tenants she must also prepare her home for the arrival of her daughter whom she thinks will be coming home to go to college and a husband whom she hasn’t seen in a long while because he’s writing the “all-great novel.”
The three try to live a seemingly normal existence in the chaos of life and that is simply the whole of the film. Writer/director Hsiao-hsien Hou does a magnificent job presenting what is in essence a domestic drama in which very little happens but the actions of the film are driven by the relationships of Suzanne and Simon as Song enters and becomes a member of their family.
The red balloon of the film is very playful at times with Simon yet is adrift from his mother (whom never realizes it’s presence) and Song (whom only recognizes the balloon metaphorically in everything around them). At the same time that Simon is enraptured with the red balloon, Song is filming a short film about a boy who comes into contact with a red balloon, which is an homage to Albert Lamorisse’s 1956 film Le Ballon rouge. There are many parallels between Lamorisse’s film and the events depicted in Le Voyage du ballon rouge which enhances the enjoyment of the film (if, of course, you’ve seen Lamorisse’s film that is).
The young boy’s mother Suzanne (Juliette Binoche) is a voice performer for a puppet troop who lives in a crowded flat with a neighbor that hasn’t paid rent in a long while. While trying to evict her tenants she must also prepare her home for the arrival of her daughter whom she thinks will be coming home to go to college and a husband whom she hasn’t seen in a long while because he’s writing the “all-great novel.”
The three try to live a seemingly normal existence in the chaos of life and that is simply the whole of the film. Writer/director Hsiao-hsien Hou does a magnificent job presenting what is in essence a domestic drama in which very little happens but the actions of the film are driven by the relationships of Suzanne and Simon as Song enters and becomes a member of their family.
The red balloon of the film is very playful at times with Simon yet is adrift from his mother (whom never realizes it’s presence) and Song (whom only recognizes the balloon metaphorically in everything around them). At the same time that Simon is enraptured with the red balloon, Song is filming a short film about a boy who comes into contact with a red balloon, which is an homage to Albert Lamorisse’s 1956 film Le Ballon rouge. There are many parallels between Lamorisse’s film and the events depicted in Le Voyage du ballon rouge which enhances the enjoyment of the film (if, of course, you’ve seen Lamorisse’s film that is).
Like many of the more indie French dramas Le Voyage do ballon rouge has no clear cut ending to any of the seemingly major conflicts in the film such as Suzanne’s eviction of her tenants or whether or not her daughter will actually come home for college. The film ends as abruptly as it began. It is simply a small look into a family’s life and like the red balloon it will eventually float away into the sky and move on.
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