In an interview for Breaking and Entering Juliette Binoche mentioned that there was no script for Ballon Rouge - just a story scenario, the actual scenes were all improvised much like Mike Leigh does. Will be fascinating to see the result!
shareThis is a remake of an old French short film that won the oscar back in the day. I think it was in the 70's. Beautiful story with no dialogue.
You should check out the original if you are interested in this remake.
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Eh... Cannes finished in May. The film got great reviews though.
shareThat's correct.
It's a remake of the old Ballon Rouge short film. VERY cute ! I won't spoil the ending for you. It's too cute, though. :P
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I just watched this in Hamburg, with Hou Hsiao-Hsien as an honored guest. Usually I don't say this about arthouse films, but I didn't appreciate this. Boring, drawn out, and the dialogue was poor. Hou spends way too much time on scenes that give us no insight into the scenario. I haven't seen the original French, so I can't compare.
shareI agree. I saw it on the Piazza Grande(Film Festival Locarno), and it was an incredible boring experience. And the screaming around of Binoche's character, horrible. Maybe it's even the worst movie i ever saw...
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Boring beyond belief. This movie belongs in the category "WTF". And it's a shame, because saw both of Juliette Binoche's films last year at TIFF and they were very good.
She was there for the Q&A afterwards and when someone asked her what she thought of the movie, she said "I've seen it before". Hmmmm, wonder if she thought it was boring, too?
She definately doesnt think it's boring... look up any interviews with her from TIFF or Cannes. She is very proud of the film and loved working on it. Incidentally the critic reception has been overwhelmingly positive for this film, so I think you dislike reflects more on you than on the film itself. I loved every frame of it... it's the nearest thing to a masterpiece ive seen this year! Brilliant, beautiful and heartfelt.
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Suzanne... a cine-snob? What is that? If it means I see something in a film you don't then maybe... but using that term to knock my opinion is a form of snobbery in itself is it not... you are writing off my opinion as being what? too intellectual? pretentious? why? because I liked a film you didnt. You are a snob albeit in a reverse form of elitism.
Am I an arthouse type? How would you know... because I like a film you dont? If only arthouse types like it does that automatically make it a bad film? What is wrong with that? I never got the impression that Hou expects to reach a wide audience mainstream audience with this film.
You say "When I go to a film, I like there to be a point or theme."
Whether you liked or disliked this film there is without doubt a theme and a point. The theme is an examination of the trials of being a parent, of a person from outside a culture coming into a family, of an incredibly strong parental bond. The point is that we get a moving portrayal of some very real people and the lives they live.
Regarding looking at pretty pictures in a photo album, how faecitious of you... Cinematography and still photography are utterly different mediums. That comment shows me that you should never have even attempted to connect with this movie. If I go to a film merely for the cinematography that is utterly acceptable as a film enthusiast.
In this case I thought the images were ravashing, but beyond that I loved the story, the characters especially Binoche's creation and most of all the puppetry. The fact that that this was improvised just made me love it all the more. It seemed real and urgent, not rehearsed, planned and contrived as so many films do.
Finally you say I am biased. By what? The fact I liked it? You are biased by the fact that you didnt have the capability to connect with something. You feel that because it was beyond you that you should knock not only the film but those who liked even loved it!
Jason
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Suzzi
I replied to your "friend" the way I did because they expressed their opinion as a fact and without any back up other than that he/she did not like the film, that reflects the person and not the film. An opinion does not have implicit value in itself dear...
As for being a snob, absolutely not. I am just tierd of people leaving negative/positive reviews for a film as if their view alone has value. A snob I am not... you obviously mentioning my education level (of which you have no idea what so ever) or indeed my level of intelligence is snobbery and reverse elitism as I said before.
Whether I love an actress or director may lead me to a film, but it never colours my opinion... Had this been directed by Alan Smithee and stared Tara Reid I would have been just as praising in my sentiments. As a piece in it's own right is a beautiful and valuable piece of pure cinema.
"I have a TREMENDOUS amount of respect for Julia's talent. "
Who the *beep* is Julia??? Julia Roberts was not in this movie... maybe thinking she was in it was your first mistake...
Jason
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Im well aware it was HER opinion. My point is that in the manner it was offered it is worthless. As for being tediously boring but beutiful I disagree. I find the way Hou structures his films, this included, to be revelatory and with huge insight. His method leads to a pure experience that mixes realism and lyricism in a way that I find beguiling... I found the film beatiful to look at but also highly engaging and compelling...
As for snobbery, not at all. I dont see how ignoring an opinion that is offered as fact and without any effort at discussion is worthless. That is MY opinion and not snobbery... words like "boring", "slow", "tedious" in themselves to not form an opinion, nor should they. They are a cop out when someone fails to engage with a film on any level. In this case I believe the failure to be yours and not the films, because you and your friend have not supplied a cohesive argument other than this was not what you were expecting and that JB must not be proud of the film... when we know for a fcat that is not the case. She is most prowd of this film... it changed her life... she has said that in umpteen interviews. And past experience will prove that if JB is not happy with a film she won't say she is!!
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I am not suggesting you MUST do anything, I am pointing out that your opinion, here or indeed anywhere else and on any subject does not stand on it's own merit. Without elaboration your opinion has no merit or value whatsoever. The "thats my opinion and my right to leave it" routine is not even valid. Leave all encompasssing comments all you want, but be prepared to be picked up on them. Those are not the "Jasongrimshaw" rules as you so snidely put it but they do form a basic standard of any conversation which a message board is for after all.
Who are YOU to dismiss someone elses work in a few words without having the good manners and integrity to elaborate your point... and maybe shock horror initiate conversation and debate along the way. A film maker has put so much into a film and you think you should be able to leave a blankly negative opinion on it? How objecting to that is snobery I am not quite sure. Do you feel your rights are being infringed upon by being picked up on this point? Do you think a person has a right to impunity on imdb?
You most certainly are entitled to say it's crap... but if thats what you post why are you surprised and obviously annoyed that I am "slighting" you on this claim? Why do you think your opinion has any value or should be respected with silence or agreement?
Ironically you have in you your faecitiously worded response begun to discuss why you did not like the film and that lends your opinion some weight and validity at last. Although I disagree with your points and I will discuss that below, I do respect them when they are elaborated upon. Sadly you have tried to undermine my earlier points about the film with cinicism and sarcasm (would that constitude snobery or just passive agressiveness?)
"You cannot even fathom that people would not care for a story that doesn't have a conflict or resolution."
You say this as if a film SHOULD have conflict and resolution... why should it? Film can be an art form and by prescribing structures or rules you imediately stifle and restrict that.
You say the 10 minute shots were boring... but why? Because they were 10 minutes or because of what they contained? For me it is refreshing to allow a scene to evolve in a natural way and to not interupt and manipulate it with tight editing, something which I think has damaged American cinema hugely since the mid 1990s when jump-cutting (ala TV) became de-rigeur. Also based on Hou's now large catalogue of work is it surprising he opts for long takes in this film?
You say "There were enjoyable segments and lovely cinematography, but the film never came close to being the complete package. "
I find this particularly interesting, why would you single out certain segments (you used the plural) and then say they don't constitute the package? What is the package? The resolution at the end which the director should have inserted in order to placate people who expect it? Because it's what they usually encounter? How formulaic!
"A film that was neither scripted or rehearsed"
There is an inherent mistake in this point. Hou does not use rehearsal or a worded script, but he is meticulous in his direction of his actors. He does not just switch on the camera then yell cut. The actors perform each segment with different approaches many many times. The film took 12 weeks to film not 2 hours. He does not use a worded script but he does have a very detailed scenario and spends much time with each actor developing the character and their backstory, their likes and dislikes and many other things that never play out on screen but that do reinforce the actor's performances. It is an alternative approach certainly, but also a valid one that is not unique to Hou.
"A film where the red balloon is no more than a prop inserted here and there as some sort of off handed homage to the truly excellent Flight of the Red Balloon - 1956"
Le Ballon Rouge is a beautiful film
But to suggest this balloon has no value beyond a visual pun is to entirely miss the point of it. It is a basic hommage to the 1956 film, but it has a relevance and symbolism that permeates this entire film. It is no prop. The ballon symbolises so many things unique to Suzanne, to Simon and to Song.
"You seem the type to congratulate yourself on having the highly evolved ability to see the innate wonder of this film. But my friend...the emperor has no clothes. "
YOU have just done what you accuse me of doing in this very sentence **ahem snobbery**. I am not claiming I have a highly evolved ability to see anything, I am claiming that your opinion holds no water without relevant discussion. As for the emperor having no clothes, I would say that symbolises you perfectly. You took a pot shot at something that was beyond you and when you are picked up on it you reel off all the usual "my opinion is my right", "you're a snob", education levels etc... anything but engage on the subject itself. You are naked!
Neither you or your friend are immune as you say this is IMDB afterall. A site that welcomes, nay relies upon "connoisseurs"
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What Juliette said in her interviews with the Globe and Mail and the UK Guardian was that there was no worded script and they didn't discuss each scene in terms of performance prior to shooting, but that each scene was performed cold by the actors multiple times after significant preparation. The director then choose the take he felt was best and did not edit in bits from multiple takes as most directors do. The film is 2 hours long what do you think they did for 12 weeks of shooting... be realistic please!
"Opinions are often reached as the result of a visceral reaction that defies explanation."
What twaddle. A film exists and is experienced by the viewer. That experience elicits an emotional reaction - which may well be boredom - but that does not defy explanation. No emotion as a reaction to something which is placed before us by a third party medium is beyond explanation on any level. If a film makes you laugh it is because you think it's funny. You think it's funny for a reason. Your saying this prooves again that you were not capable - or willing- to engage with the piece. As I said previously a negative reaction is entirely justifiable, but there is a reason behind it. You completely negated your comments by failing to offer any justification.
"Case closed - you are a snob"
Or not. There is nothing snobbish about challenging a person who slates something without any justification be it a novel, a song, a painting or a film. The least you owe a director whose film you slate is to give a coherent reason as to why you are publicly slamming their work. That is not being a snob. You are fixated with labelling me as something which undermines me and places you on a higher plane. Oh his points are without merit because he is a snob, therefor I dont have to justify my remarks,..
I am not a snob, I am just sticking up for a persons work to be intelligently judged. As the late great Michel Serrault said at the Cannes Film Festival "Yell, scream and shout if you hate it but please tell me why you hate it." Don't be so self righteous.
We know you hated this film, but your opinion is worthless as you fail to be coherent in your reasons why... that is not snobbery it is a challenge to your assertion of your "right"... which doesnt really exist. There is no such thing as free speech, or as Emily Dickinson more eloquently put it:
"Could mortal lip divine,
the undeveloped freight,
of a delivered syllable,
twould crumble with the weight"
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No question... Binoche is proud of this movie
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2-Z6pyOGCOQ
I have seen almost all of Hous oeuvre. I loved Three Times and Cafe Lumiere and now this one. Hou is one of the few real masters in my opinion. His films always have a conteplative atmosphere, but he always captures the very essence of his characters in an expression or a flash of their eyes. I find him to be an extremely generous director... an Asian Kieslowski if you will... undeniably contemporary but with a clacissism that I find invigorating and even inspiring...
Jason
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that makes sense.
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