MovieChat Forums > Le voyage du ballon rouge (2008) Discussion > there should be a warning...

there should be a warning...

posted 16 years ago by gruenewald
9 replies | jump to latest

I just returned from seeing this at a theater in Paris.
No one in the sparse audience seemed to know quite what to make of it. I think the best moment we all shared was when the elderly man in the front snored loudly less than 10 minutes into the film.
I know that the director is more artsy than blockbuster, and there is supposedly a "zen" quality in the rendering of the everyday, but the film is a let-down.
First of all, it is marketed as a dramatic comedy here in Paris. In that categorization it definitely falls short. And there is no mention that it is merely an "homage" to the classic children's book and story...it is NOT a remake. Second, regardless of the director's other films, this was slow, meandering, the shots weren't exactly breathtaking, and sometimes aesthetically disconnected. Lastly, and most importantly, as I watched the movie, I didn't care about the characters or what happened to them. The only thing I did care about was seeing the red balloon again, which sadly, was not often enough - at least not nearly as often as the people around me looked at their cell phones to check the time. Also, for an unscripted "improvisational" dialogue, it felt very forced.

I don't normally post on these boards, but I felt strongly that people should be warned.

[–] jasongrimshaw 16 years ago

It is not marketed as a dramatic comedy in Paris. I would be interested to know why you think this. It is marketed very precisely as a Hou film - which if you've seen anything else by him this is a great example of his skill.

It definately does not fall short in characterisation - it is light in narrative - but it is entirely characterisation.

To say "merely an homage" is a ridiculous statement. The film is not an hommage - it is an expansion and a reimagining.

I fully agree that for the casual movie goer this is a challenging film, but for those who work with it and are sympathetic of Hou's concerns this is poetic, inspired and lyrical and it also contains the finest performance to date in the career of arguably the most accomplished and important actress on the screen today.

[–] Revolutionow 16 years ago

Well said.

Yeah... I can see myself marinating a chicken in that...

[–] gruenewald 16 years ago

Check out the allocine.fr website
http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm=112179.html
which says:
Genre : Comédie dramatique
with this synopsis:
Simon a 7 ans. Un mystérieux ballon rouge le suit dans Paris. Sa mère Suzanne est marionnettiste et prépare son nouveau spectacle. Totalement absorbée par sa création, elle se laisse déborder par son quotidien et décide d'engager Song Fang, une jeune étudiante en cinéma, afin de l'aider à s'occuper de Simon.

And the telerama.fr and evene.fr websites also classify it as such, with the latter also saying:
...Simon passe beaucoup de temps avec Song Fang. En revenant de l'école, il l'entraîne à travers les rues et les cafés de son quartier, lui apprend à jouer au flipper... Simon a aussi un étrange ami qui le suit partout et qu'il est le seul à voir : un ballon rouge qui flotte au-dessus des toits de Paris...

not to mention the fact that the poster for the movie shows a laughing/smiling Juliette Binoche with her son which is not the mood for most of the movie.

I posted originally to warn those who were going to see the movie with this sort of information. I admit I haven't seen any of Hou's other works, but as an art historian, it's not as if I don't appreciate well-made films or films outside the "mainstream".
I am not contesting the abilities of Binoche. I also understand why you say it is entirely characterization (mostly because it is nothing else but that...that and some pretty good shots of Paris "typique"), but if it truly succeeds, I should care about at least one character.

[–] jasongrimshaw 16 years ago

"Cómedie dramatique" translates in english to dramatic comedy of course, but it is a misleading phrase widely used. Another good Binoche example is Trois Couleurs Bleu... hardly a comedy although Allocine list it as such.

As for the image of binoche smiling, I think this captures the relationship with her son, which is very appropriate... hardly a sign of a comedy.

This film has not been marketed as a comedy in any way.

[–] webkhanh 16 years ago

"Comédie dramatique" translates best to "drama" in English. It is misleading but not to the French, who wouldn't expect proper comedic moments in a movie labeled "comédie dramatique".

Having said that I found the movie quite funny actually! But obviously not in the way comedies usually are but more in a satiric way. I found this movie was a satire of (French?) modern life, everyone's roles were exaggerated yet believable. I know people who are *exactly* like the characters and that made me laugh a lot.
The contrast between Song and Binoche were enormous but their interactions remained very natural. The kid's lines were great too, with script surprisingly realistic. On that note I didn't know actors were told to improvise, but it makes complete sense.

A lot of people didn't like it where i saw it, giggling, snoring, etc. At the end one person even got up behind me and said out loud "So long for so little!". But the funniest thing was to realize that the other half of the audience sat through the credits (including me) kind of hypnotized and soothed and dreamy. In other words, zen. The movie had stopped but the stark contrast between Song's world and Binoche's was still all around.

So yeah i really liked it, and maybe my opinion is the inverse of the first poster's: i found the movie very beautiful, with great believable characters, great contrasts, great acting and script/improv.

I didn't like everything though: too much of the red balloon, which became silly around the end, too many red round objects in the scene, i mean, it felt too obvious, like as if the director was trying a little too hard.
I would have removed the final message about the fact that the movie is a tribute (it's understood) and maybe the last scene where they explain the painting which was giving away too much meaning.

Oh, and yeah, i agree, this is a very bad synopsis - but aren't they all?

[–] SurrenderToto 16 years ago

Agree in part, jasongrimshaw, with your opinion:

"... it also contains the finest performance to date in the career of arguably the most accomplished and important actress on the screen today."

My qualifier - Juliette Binoche is just great in everything. Tell me a movie she made where she didn't give a fine performance and lift the movie up with her humanity.

Which brings me to this movie. Without Ms. Binoche (and a few other "alive" people in the film, like the non-paying tenant and the lawyer), I would say "WARNING, WARNING: No plot, no direction; figure it out for yourselves."

What is going on here, in a very boring, uninvolving way, is OBSERVATION FROM A DISTANCE of a family, perhaps like yours or mine. The "actors": a distracted, pre-occupied mom who wants to be buddies with her young son (vs. raising him), and cannot manage adult relations in a mature way either; a film student who is very obviously "mothering" the boy (notice all the touchy-feely going on, the solicitousness, the encouragement of his artistic side, the allowance of freedom and free flow of love, which will certainly [sarcasm intended] be enough to guide him to the proper way of living), and whose own preoccupations (observation without intervention, beauty for beauty's sake and a calm, non-intervening, non-confrontational way of dealing with issues) is that of the filmmaker himself; the boy himself, a rather pampered, "grown-up" kid, whose words are by turns too wise beyond his years (notice him lecturing or counseling his own mother), evasive (reflecting his hidden anxiety over lack of and longing for attachment within his family), or kid-cute. And last but not least, the balloon itself, whose character seems to be freedom-loving, a little sassy, and representative of the artistic impulse to be, go or do whatever one wants without the "burdens" of having to cope with living with other people. (If I were to compare the balloon with two other characters, I'd say the little girl in "Jellyfish" and the little wretch in "Zazie dans le Metro."}.

So there you have it. No getting inside anyone's head. No tension, no story. The director is saying, creativity and freedom are what we desire. Life is a struggle for them (or not, in the case of the nanny, who seems preturnaturally calm and wise).

ZZZZzzzzz....

[–] danyangsf 16 years ago

Thanks for the warning. I used to like his movies (the early ones, especially "A Time to Live and A Time to Die" and "Flowers of Shanghai"). After seeing "Three Times" and "Millennium Mambo" and feeling utterly frustrated, I decided I am just not highbrow enough to appreciate his "style", and do not want to waste my precious time again. I understand he is a darling in the "film critics circle". But isn't it interesting that the three big film festivals have not awarded him any since 2000. Having said that, I may still wanna see this one if I happen to have some extra time in my hand.

[–] Deadpool1789 13 years ago

"But isn't it interesting that the three big film festivals have not awarded him any since 2000."

Two of the films you just named were nominated for the Cannes' Palm d'Or -- both Millenium Mambo (2001) AND Three Times (2005). Even if he didn't win, being nominated for it is a great enough achievement.

[–] dumaramutsi 11 years ago

"I think the best moment we all shared was when the elderly man in the front snored loudly less than 10 minutes into the film..."

I'm sorry...but...i can't stop laughing!!! thank you so much :'D