As sequels go, this one took half a century to incubate. But both the boy and the mysterious balloon that follows him around Paris have an eternally youthful mind of their own in "Flight of the Red Balloon."
Few films are more beloved -- or shorter -- than Albert Lamorisse's 34-minute "Red Balloon" (1956). Among countless subsequent filmmakers, it has most directly inspired writer-director Hou Hsiao Hsien of Taipei. In fact, this film is not so much a sequel but rather an homage to the original and to Lamorisse, who was killed in a helicopter crash at age 48.
- Starring:Juliette Binoche, Song Fang, Simon Iteanu.
- Rating: PG-13 in nature for subtitles.
I think he'd love this "Flight," which stars Juliette Binoche as Suzanne, an overextended single mother and high-strung artiste, who voices puppet plays brilliantly. A frazzled chainsmoker, she is totally absorbed with her new show, distracted by the eviction of her downstairs tenants and full of schedule conflicts, which is why she hires a young Taiwanese film student (Song Fang) to take care of her 7-year-old son (Simon Iteanu) after school.
Simon is not so simple. He leads Song through his latchkey life, while an oddly friendly red balloon follows, keeping tabs on them in Simon's half-real, half-imaginary world. In his first film shot outside of Asia, Hou Hsiao Hsien takes lovingly to every Parisian detail, from the merry-go-round in the Jardin de Luxembourg to the cafe-parlor where Simon plays pinball in his pint-size black muscle shirt.
The delicate direction is enhanced by a dreamy, Erik Satie-esque solo keyboard score, an aural mirror of Simon's ongoing piano lessons and the piano-movers and tuners who keep cropping up.
Beautiful Binoche ("Chocolat," "The English Patient," "Unbearable Lightness of Being") is no less alluring in semi-matronly form than she was as an ingenue -- and a more accomplished actress than ever. Cherubic Iteanu is surely the most unaffected child actor in captivity, while calm, gentle Song Fang is the "child minder" par excellence and perfect complement to helter-skelter Suzanne.
It's not about the metaphorical significance of the balloon, which is peripheral and makes relatively few appearances. It's about Song's sensibilities opening up Suzanne to Simon's ineffable childhood magic and wisdom. The lingering takes, deliberate slice-of-life pace, naturalistic performances and dearth of "action" are not geared to mainstream American tastes. Neither is Suzanne's cluttered, claustrophobic apartment or her post-modern drift. Which is why you should see it.
The red balloon is always inflated. But its graceful peregrinations -- and this wistful film -- never are.
"Flight of the Red Balloon," in French with English subtitles, opens today at the Manor Theater.
First Published: June 13, 2008, 8:00 a.m.
