"Flight of the Red Ballon" ** 1\2 (out of ****)When I first heard filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hisein was going to remake the 1956 Oscar winning short film, "The Red Ballon" I was actually eager to see it. I should clarify that statement. "Flight of the Red Ballon" is not really a remake of that charming short film. It is more of a homage. A tip of the hat to the original but in no way does it want to be viewed as a remake.
As I began watching "Flight of the Red Ballon" I thought I was in good hands. The film starts off with a long shot of the famous red ballon as it drifts along in the sky. Hsiao-Hsien keeps his camera on the ballon. I was reminded of the work of Hungarian director Bela Tarr or Greek director Theo Angelopoulos. Hsiao-Hsien is in the same category. He allows his films to move at a different pace. They are slow moving but thoughtful. Hsiao-Hsien, for readers unaware, directed the critical acclaimed 2006 feature film, "Three Times", which I didn't care for.
"Flight of the Red Ballon" is a film all about its characters and not about its plot. The film doesn't really have a plot. The viewer is shown mundane activities but Hsiao-Hsien seems to have confidence that we will come to care about these people. We will find the mundane to be magical. The characters in this film dictate where the plot will go not the other way around.
I admire a film and a director that is willing to do that. So often films seen so formulaic that we sit in the theatre bored. We could have written the film ourselves. Everything is so predictable. So when a movie comes along and doesn't follow the rules it is refreshing. I like slow, meditative films.
Sadly though Hsiao-Hsien gets the slow part right but not the interesting part. I hate to compare this film to the original directed by Albert Lamorisse but this new film has none of the charm or innocence of the original. The 1956 film followed a boy and a magical red ballon which follows him around the streets of Paris. It seems to be alive. The film is playful and the ending as tender as any could be. This new version simply can't compare.
Normally I like films about childhood. Think of the great films by Truffaut such as "400 Blows", "Small Change" or Tarkovsky's "My Name Is Ivan". How many films have been able to show the pain of growing up the way Truffaut did? "Small Change" doesn't really do anything visually exciting. It shows small moments in children's lives. "Red Ballon" has a simple plot as well but these films achieve more than most would think. They seem pure.
"Flight of the Red Ballon" makes the mistake of not following our young hero, Simon (Simon Iteanu) closely enough. The film is not told from his point of view. We don't see the world in the eyes of a child. That was what made those other films so special. And we don't see the world in his mother's, Suzanne (Juliette Binoche) eyes either.
The film's plot has Simon get a new nanny, a foreigner from Taiwan, Song (Song Fang). She is a film student who tells young Simon about the short film "Red Ballon". She wants to make a similar film herself. Meanwhile Suzanne is an actress. She does voice over work for puppet shows. In addition to which she is having problems with her downstairs tenant who has not been paying his rent.
The film doesn't dwell into these people's lives or their situations. Which is fine by me because none of it really matters except for the boy. I understand what the basic idea was. The mother who has no time for her child leading the boy to daydream, hence his fascination with the red ballon. But Hsiao-Hsien doesn't effectively get this point across.
The film has some good moments. As I said I enjoyed the slow pace of the film. It isn't a bad piece of filmmaking. Hsiao-Hsien is not a bad director either. But I think he gets away from himself. Maybe he aimed too high, had so many things he wanted to say that in the end he doesn't say enough.
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