Flight of the Red Balloon

I enjoyed the long takes of this film--some as long as eight minutes. All dialogue's improvised. So much of the movie takes place within Suzanne's (Juliette Binoche) apartment that by the end I felt very much at home there--it's a cozy, bohemian Parisian loft, with an abundance of books and scattered items. When Simon went to "have a go" on his Playstation, I wanted to know what game he played. The poster on the back of the door advertised "La Ballade de la Mister Punch", a tribute to the Punch and Judy puppet show. The movie seems as though it's from Song Fang's perspective--unjudging, attentive, thoughtful, cozy. Song adapts and becomes the calm in the middle of deteriorating relationships--Marc, the downstairs tenant, who hasn't paid rent in over a year; and Pierre, Simon and Louise's father who has abandoned his family to live in Montreal. The ending comes abruptly, amidst a teacher discussion in the Musée d’Orsay over Félix Vallotton’s 1899 painting of a child chasing a red ball, "Le Ballon." The movie fades away with the song "Tchin Tchin" (French for "cheers") by singer Camille. The movie also seems like it might document the view from Simon's perspective--adrift as he floats between school, home, the cafe where he plays pinball, and piano lessons. The home becomes a womb, but without Suzanne, it also seems somewhat empty. Suzanne comes and goes freely, in her words, "making everyone happy." The end of the film seems to document how much Simon's needs aren't getting met--Louise chooses to stay in Brussels to care for her great-grandfather, leaving Simon visibly upset (sleeping with his bear). Song, as the nanny, checks in to let him know she cares, but respects his grieving and lets him rest. Suzanne, slowly but successfully restoring order to the chaos left by Pierre's departure two years earlier, struggles to keep the threads of her family together. As I mentioned, the ending comes abruptly, leaving me wanting to see more--what happens next? The chemistry seems right for thsi family though--I suspect they turn out all right, between Suzanne's passion and Song's presence.

Even though we ate before watching this movie, I felt incredibly hungry watching it. Watching Song learn to make crepes, or Suzanne offer a biscuit, or Marc prepare vegetables, or a poured glass of wine--I couldn't wait to eat.

From left to right: ? (Chinese professor), Song Fang (Song), Louise Margolin (Louise), Juliette Binoche (Suzanne), Simon Iteanu (Simon), and Hippolyte Girardot (Marc).


New York Times review.
Village Voice review.

Below: I guess this is how they did it. I imagined elaborate wind machines, fishing line, and so forth.