Le Ballon Rouge - The Red Ballon (1956)

The Red Balloon (French: Le Ballon rouge) is a 1956 fantasy short film, directed
by French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse.
The thirty-four minute short, which follows the adventures of a young boy who on
e day finds a sentient, mute, red balloon, was filmed in the Mnilmontant neighbor
hood of Paris, France.
It won numerous awards, including an Oscar for Lamorisse for writing the best or
iginal screenplay in 1956 and the Palme d'Or for short films at Cannes. The film
also became popular with children and educators.
Lamorisse used his children as actors in the film. His son, Pascal Lamorisse, p
lays Pascal in the main role, and his daughter Sabine portrays a little girl.
Plot
The film, which has a music score but almost no dialogue, tells of Pascal (Pasca
l Lamorisse), who, on his way to school one morning, discovers a large helium-fi
lled red balloon.
As Pascal plays with his new found toy, he realizes the balloon has a mind and w
ill of its own, and it begins to follow him wherever he goes, at times floating
outside his bedroom window as Pascal's mother won't allow it in their apartment.
The red balloon follows Pascal through the streets of Paris, and the pair draw i
nquisitive looks from adults and the envy of other children as they wander the s
treets. At one point the balloon enters Pascal's classroom, causing an uproar f
rom the other students. The noise alerts the principal, who becomes angry with
Pascal and locks him up in his office until school is over. At another, Pascal
and his balloon encounter a little girl (Sabine Lamorisse) with a blue balloon t
hat also seems to have a mind of its own.
In their wanderings around the neighborhood, Pascal and the balloon encounter a
gang of bullies, who are envious of his balloon, and they soon destroy his new f
riend.
The film ends as the other balloons in Paris come to Pascal's aid and take him o
n a cluster balloon ride over the city.
Cast
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Pascal Lamorisse as Pascal

Georges Sellier
Vladimir Popov
Paul Perey
Ren Marion
Sabine Lamorisse as the Little Girl
Michel Pezin
David Schan as the Twin In Red (uncredited)
Renaud as the Twin In Red (uncredited)

Credits
Directed by: Albert Lamorisse
Produced by: Albert Lamorisse

Written by: Albert Lamorisse

Starring: Pascal Lamorisse
Music by: Maurice Leroux
Cinematography: Edmond Schan
Editing by: Pierre Gillette
Distributed by: Lopert Pictures Corporation, Janus Films
Release date(s): October 15, 1956 (France), March 11, 1957 (United States)
Running time: 34 minutes
Country: France
Language: French
Official website: http://www.janusfilms.com/redandwhite/
Production
The film serves as a color record of the Belleville area of Paris which had fall
en into decay by the 1960s, prompting the Parisian government to demolish the ar
ea as a slum-clearance effort. Part of the site was built up with housing proje
cts; the remainder was left as wasteland for 20 years. Ninety-five percent of w
hat is seen in the film exists no more: the bakeries, the famous Y-shaped stairc
ase situated just beyond the equally famous caf "Au Repos de la Montagne", the lo
ng-gone steep steps of the rue Vilin where Pascal finds the balloon initially et
c., the waste ground where all the battles took place. Only the church of Notre
-Dame de la Croix, between the Place Maurice Chevalier and the Place de Mnilmonta
nt remains.
Critical Reception
Since its first release in 1956, the film has generally received favorable revie
ws from film critics. When issued in the United States, film critic for The New
York Times, Bosley Crowther, hailed the simple tale and praised director Lamori
sse, and wrote, "Yet with the sensitive cooperation of his own beguiling son and
with the gray-blue atmosphere of an old Paris quarter as the background for the
shiny balloon, he has got here a tender, humorous drama of the ingenuousness of
a child and, indeed, a poignant symbolization of dreams and the cruelty of thos
e who puncture them."
When The Red Balloon was re-released in the United States in late 2006 by Janus
Films, Entertainment Weekly magazine film critic Owen Gleiberman, praised the fi
lm's direction and simple story line that reminded him of his youth, and wrote,
"More than any other children's film, The Red Balloon turns me into a kid again
whenever I see it...[to] see The Red Balloon is to laugh, and cry, at the imposs
ible joy of being a child again."
Film critic Brian Gibson wrote, "So far, this seems a post-Occupation France hap
py to forget the blood and death of Hitler's war a decade earlier. But soon peo
ple s occasional, playful efforts to grab the floating, carefree balloon become gr
asping and destructive. In a gorgeous sequence, light streaming down alleys as
children's shoes clack and clatter on the cobblestones, the red globe bouncing b
etween the walls, Pascal is hunted down for his floating pet. The film's balloo
ning sense of hope and freedom is deflated by a fierce, squabbling mass. Then,
fortunately, Lamorisse's film floats off, with the breeze of magic-realism, into
a feeling of escape and peace, The Red Balloon taking hold of Pascal, lifting h
im out of this rigid, petty, earthbound life."
In a review in The Washington Post, critic Philip Kennicott had a cynical view o
f the film, and wrote, "[The film takes] place in a world of lies. Innocent lie
s? Not necessarily. The Red Balloon may be the most seamless fusion of capital
ism and Christianity ever put on film. A young boy invests in a red balloon, th

e love of which places him on the outside of society. The balloon is hunted dow
n and killed on a barren hilltop - think Calvary - by a mob of cruel boys. The en
ding, a bizarre emotional sucker punch, is straight out of the New Testament. T
hus is investment rewarded - with Christian transcendence or, at least, an old-fa
shioned Assumption. This might be sweet. Or it might be a very cynical reducti
on of the primary impulse to religious faith."
Review by James Travers (2001): Le Ballon rouge is a rare gem of French cinema,
a captivating short film which tells a simple tale of childhood innocence, comp
letely untainted by false sentimentality. Although it is a short film, which ma
nages to avoid using dialogue for the most part, it has a surprisingly great dea
l to say about human nature, showing both the best and worst of humanity in a mo
dern parable that speaks to anyone, whether you are five or ninety-five. This i
s a rare film that successfully captures the essence of childhood, presenting a
child s view of the world that is both convincing and engaging. It is also a film
which is highly enjoyable to watch, becoming hilarious as the balloon, apparent
ly with a mind of its own, trails a young boy through the beautiful streets of M
ontmartre in Paris. However, it is the tragic demise of the balloon near the en
d of the film which is most memorable, particularly as it has an almost Robert B
resson-like near-religious edge to it. Who d have thought that a mere balloon cou
ld provoke so many laughs and tears? When Le Ballon rouge made its debut in 195
4, it won the prestigious Palme d Or in the short film category at Cannes. It sub
sequently won an Oscar for the best original screenplay. The film has since enjo
yed an enduring popularity the world over. Its director, Albert Lamorisse, has t
ransposed the story into a children s book and then a popular stage play. The fil
m itself remains one of the best-loved and mostly widely seen of all French film
s.
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 100% of critics gave the fil
m a positive review, based on fifteen reviews.
Exhibition
The film premiered and opened wide in France on October 15, 1956, was released i
n the United Kingdom on December 23, 1956 (as the supporting film to the 1956 Ro
yal Performance Film The Battle of the River Plate...which ensured it a wide dis
tribution) and was released in the United States on March 11, 1957.
The film has been featured in many film festivals over the years, including: the
Wisconsin International Children's Film Festival; the Los Angeles Outfest Gay a
nd Lesbian Film Festival; the Wisconsin Film Festival, and others.
The Red Balloon, in its American television premiere, was introduced by then-act
or Ronald Reagan as an episode of the CBS anthology series General Electric Thea
ter on April 2, 1961.
Throughout the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s this film was popular in elem
entary classrooms throughout the United States and Canada. A four minute clip o
f the film is on the rotating list of programming on Classic Arts Showcase, and
is often aired on the free cable television channel that promotes the fine arts
to the largest audience possible.
In late 2007, the film, along with director Albert Lamorisse's earlier classic s
hort White Mane (1953), was restored and re-released by Janus Films in limited m
arkets in the United States. The film was remastered by Janus Films in 35mm for
mat for the release.
The film was first released on VHS by Embassy Home Entertainment in 1984. A las
erdisc of the film was later released by The Criterion Collection in 1986, and w

as produced by Criterion, Janus Films, and Voyager Press. Included in the disc
was Lamorisse's award-winning short White Mane (1953). A DVD version became ava
ilable in 2008, and a Blu-Ray version was released in the UK on January 18, 2010
; it has now been confirmed as region-free.
Awards
* Prix Louis Delluc: Prix Louis Delluc; Albert Lamorisse; 1956.
* Cannes Film Festival: Palme d'Or du court mtrage/Golden Palm; Best Short Film,
Albert Lamorisse; 1956.
* Academy Awards: Oscar; Best Writing, Best Original Screenplay, Albert Lamoriss
e; 1957.
* British Academy of Film and Television Arts: BAFTA Award; Special Award, Franc
e; 1957.
* National Board of Review: Top Foreign Films; 1957.
* Best Film of the Decade Educational Film Award.
Adaptations
The Red Balloon has inspired Le Voyage du Ballon Rouge, a 2008 French feature fi
lm, directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien and starring Juliette Binoche. It also seems to
be the inspiration for Bob Godfrey and Zlatko Grgic's animated short, Dream Dol
l.