Le voyage du balloon rouge (2007)

Directed by: Hou Hsiao-hsien | 113 minutes | drama | Actors: Juliette Binoche, Simon Iteanu, Song Fang, Hippolyte Girardot, Louise Margolin, Anna Sigalevitch

The Chinese minimalist director Hou Hsiao-hsien has gained a loyal fan base through his quietly observing, but regularly magical films such as ‘Millenium Mambo’ and especially ‘Three Times’. Despite the calm pace and the rather passive characters, he often managed to reach an emotional core in his films and touch the viewer by showing something essential in human interaction. ‘Le voyage du ballon rouge’ retains – to a certain extent – ​​the visual beauty of the filmmaker’s earlier work, but unfortunately does not manage to arrive at interesting insights or present characters that come to life for the viewer. Everything is there for an impressive, enchanting film. A skilled director with a good eye for human (under the hood) drama, a great actress in the person of Juliette Binoche, and a timeless classic as the basis of the story. But Hou Hsiao-hsien doesn’t manage to make it a fascinating whole. The music is atmospheric, the images of the large red balloon that follows the boy and floats from location to location against the background of a picturesque Paris are poetic and bring back fond memories of Lamorisse’s original, and the son with his tousled flower pot haircut and sometimes dreamy look is cute. But this is where the film’s positives actually stop.

The biggest problem is that nothing interesting actually happens in the film and that there are hardly any opportunities for the viewer to bond with the characters. Suzanne (Binoche) has an original profession as a voice in an alternative puppetry company, but the viewer is not placed in the shoes of the spectator enough to make this fascinating. And Suzanne’s screams are starting to get on her nerves. And not just during her profession. When she comes home, whining and yelling are among her favorite activities. About her ex, for example, and his boyfriend who lives in her building, but doesn’t pay. Then there is the nanny Song who can provide some air in the film through her association with son Simon. But her conversations with the boy, who, just like in Lamorisse’s charming film, are occasionally followed by a red balloon, are so trivial, dragging, and simply boring, that this relationship also lacks depth or goodwill. Other events, such as a piano tuner passing by or long telephone conversations with daughter Louise, are even less exciting.

‘Le voyage du ballon rouge’: It seems to be merely a fleeting glimpse into the less turbulent lives of the characters, with here and there references to the film that was used as the starting point: ‘Le ballon rouge’, by Albert Lamorisse. It is mainly these references that make the viewer sit up straight and provide the film with special scenes. Unfortunately, the story and the people who figure in it hardly appeal to the imagination.