LE VOYAGE DU BALLON ROUGE (Flight Of The Red Balloon)

France/2007/French dialogue with English subtitles/Colour/35mm/113 mins

In Paris, Suzanne (Juliette Binoche) is a harried, slightly bedraggled single mother and puppeteer. She leaves her beloved son, Simon (Simon Iteanu), in the care of his new nanny, Song (Song Fang). Suzanne experiences a plethora of emotional upheavals and frustrations, while the reserved Song learns about her new charge and household. Song, a filmmaker and a fan of Albert Lamorisse’s 1965 film Le Ballon rouge, uses Simon as a character in her own project and films him as they explore the neighbourhood. Simon meanwhile muses on the magical, dancing red balloon that calls out to him, waking and sleeping.

“In homage to Le Ballon rouge, Taiwanese director Hsiao-hsien Hou has created in his first European film a miracle of cultural fluidity based on improvisation and the delicate blending of French and Chinese artistry. By shooting in Paris and in French, Chinese-born Hou was forced to trust his instincts. The daily bustle of Paris becomes inextricably bound to China’s ancient story-telling technique of puppetry. Filmed in ten-minute, unrehearsed takes (always shot in natural light), Hou presents simple snapshots of life, rather than a fixed narrative.” – Hannah Fisher

Starring : Juliette Binoche, Simon Iteanu, Hippolyte Girardot
Director(s) :

Hou Hsiao-hsien

HOU HSIAO-HSIEN was born in 1947 in Guangdong province, China, and raised in Taiwan. His award-winning feature films inclue A Time to Live, A Time to Die (1985), Dust in the Wind (1986), A City of Sadness (1989; Golden Lion at Venice), The Puppetmaster (1993; Jury Prize at Cannes), Good Men, Good Women (1995), Goodbye South, Goodbye (1996), Flowers of Shanghai (1998), Millennium Mambo (2001; Silver Hugo, Chicago Intl. Film Festival), Café Lumière (2004) and Three Times (2005).
Crew : , François Margolin(Producer), Kristina Larsen (Producer), Mark Lee Ping Bing(Cinematographer), Liao Ching Sung(Editor), Jean-Christophe Hym(Editor), Camille Camille(Composer), Constance Lee(Composer)
Running Time : 113 mins
Country : France
Programme : The Cultural Bridge
Venue : Mall of the Emirates - CineStar 1, Mall of the Emirates - CineStar 1, Mall of the Emirates - CineStar 12
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