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{{short description|1956 film by Albert Lamorisse}}
{{Other uses|Red balloon (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Red Balloon
| image = Le ballon rouge (1956).png
| alt =
| caption = French theatrical release poster
| director = [[Albert Lamorisse]]
| producer = Albert Lamorisse
| screenplay = Albert Lamorisse
| starring = Pascal Lamorisse
| music = [[Maurice Le Roux]]
| cinematography = [[Edmond Séchan]]
| editing = Pierre Gillette
| studio = Films Montsouris
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|1956|5|3|[[1956 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes]]|1956|10|19|France|df=y}}
| runtime = 34 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 35:00--><ref name=bbfc>{{cite web | url=http://bbfc.co.uk/releases/red-balloon-film | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407082722/http://bbfc.co.uk/releases/red-balloon-film | url-status=dead | archive-date=7 April 2016 | title=''THE RED BALLOON'' (U) | work=[[British Board of Film Classification]] | date=15 October 1956 | access-date=25 March 2016}}</ref>
| country = France
| language = French
}}
'''''The Red Balloon''''' ({{langx|fr|Le ballon rouge}}) is a 1956 French [[Fantasy film|fantasy]] [[comedy-drama]] [[featurette]] written, produced, and directed by [[Albert Lamorisse]]. The thirty-four-minute short, which follows the adventures of a young boy who one day finds a sentient, mute, red balloon, was filmed in the [[Ménilmontant]] neighborhood of [[Paris]].
Lamorisse used his children as actors in the film. His son, Pascal, plays himself in the main role, and his daughter, Sabine, portrays a young girl.
The film won numerous awards, including an [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] for Lamorisse for writing the [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]] in 1956 and the [[Short Film Palme d'Or|Palme d'Or for short films]] at the [[1956 Cannes Film Festival]]. It also became popular with children and educators. It is the only short film to win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
==
The film follows Pascal (Pascal Lamorisse), a young boy who discovers a large, helium-filled red balloon on his way to school one morning. As he plays with it, he realizes it has a mind of its own. The balloon begins to follow him wherever he goes, never straying far, and sometimes floating outside his apartment window since his mother will not allow it inside.
As Pascal and the balloon wander through the streets of Paris, they draw a lot of attention and envy from other children. At one point, the balloon enters his classroom, causing an uproar among his classmates. This alerts the principal, who locks Pascal in his office. Later, after being set free, Pascal and the balloon encounter a young girl (Sabine Lamorisse) with a blue balloon that also seems to have a mind of its own, just like his.
One Sunday, Pascal is told to leave the balloon at home while he and his mother go to church. However, the balloon follows them through an open window and into the church, where a scolding [[beadle]] leads them out.
As Pascal and the balloon continue to explore the neighborhood, a gang of older boys, envious of the balloon, steal it while Pascal is inside a bakery. He manages to retrieve it, but the boys eventually catch up to them after a chase through narrow alleys. They hold Pascal back as they bring the balloon down with slingshots and stones, and one of them finally destroys it by stomping on it.
The film ends with all the other balloons in Paris coming to Pascal's aid, lifting him up, and taking him on a [[Cluster ballooning|cluster balloon]] ride over the city.
==Themes==
The film, set in post-[[World War II]] Paris, features a dark and grey [[mise-en-scène]] that adds a somber tone to the setting and mood. In contrast, the bright red balloon serves as a symbol of hope and light throughout the film.<ref>{{cite web |last=Koresky |first=Michael |date=28 April 2008 |title=The Red Balloon |url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/655-the-red-balloon |access-date=9 May 2020 |website=The Criterion Collection}}</ref> The cluster balloon ride in the final scene can also be interpreted as a religious or spiritual metaphor. For example, when the balloon is destroyed, its "spirit" seems to live on through all the other balloons in the city, which some view as a metaphor for Christ.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hathaway |first=Alisa |date=28 February 2011 |title=The Red Balloon (1956) |url=https://alisashortfilm.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/the-red-balloon-1956/ |access-date=2018-09-22 |work=Notes on Short Film |language=en-US}}</ref> Themes of self-realization and loneliness are also present in the film.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Selznick |first=Brian |date=19 November 2008 |title=''The Red Balloon'': Written on the Wind |url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/778-the-red-balloon-written-on-the-wind |access-date=9 May 2020 |website=The Criterion Collection}}</ref>
Additionally, the theme of innocence is a central focus, as the film shows how a cynical world is transformed into a magical one through the eyes of a child, highlighting the power of innocence and imagination.<ref name="Kennicott">{{Cite news |last=Kennicott |first=Philip |date=23 November 2007 |title='Red Balloon' and 'White Mane': Childhood Colored by Adult Cynicism |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/22/AR2007112201315.html |access-date=9 May 2020 |work=The Washington Post}}</ref>
Author Myles P. Breen has identified thematic and stylistic elements in the film that reflect the qualities of poetry. Breen supports this view by quoting film theorist Christian Metz, who states, "In a poem, there is no story line, and nothing intrudes between the author and the reader." Breen categorizes the film as a "filmic poem," partly due to its loose, non-narrative structure.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Breen |first=Myles P. |date=1978 |title=The Rhetoric of the Short Film |journal=Journal of the University Film Association |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=3–13 |jstor=20687433}}</ref>
==Production==
The film serves as a visual record of the [[Belleville, Paris|Belleville]] and [[Ménilmontant]] areas of Paris, which had fallen into decay by the 1960s. This decline led the Parisian government to demolish much of the area as part of a slum-clearance effort. While some of the site was rebuilt with housing projects, the rest remained wasteland for 20 years. Many of the locations featured in the film no longer exist, including one of the bakeries, the school, the famous staircase located just beyond the equally famous café "Au Repos de la Montagne," the steep steps of passage Julien Lacroix where Pascal finds the balloon, and the empty lot where many of the battles take place. Today, the [[Parc de Belleville]] stands in that area. However, some locations remain intact, such as the apartment where Pascal lives with his mother at 15, rue du Transvaal, the [[Église Notre-Dame-de-la-Croix de Ménilmontant]], and the Pyrénées-Ménilmontant bus stop at the intersection of rue des Pyrénées and rue de Ménilmontant.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schreuders |first=Piet |date=8 February 2012 |title=Het Parijs van Le Ballon Rouge |url=http://www.furoremagazine.com/exemples/ |access-date=9 May 2020 |work=Furore}}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" caption="" heights="140">
Pascal%27s_apartment_in_the_Red_Balloon_(15_rue_du_Transvaal,_75020_Paris).jpg|The building hosting Pascal's apartment (15 rue du Transvaal)
Rue_des_Envierges_and_rue_du_Transvaal_(Paris,_20th_arrondissement).jpg|This view is seen in the film. The photo is taken from the side of the building hosting the bakery (intersection of rue des Envierges and rue du Transvaal)
Parc_de_Belleville_(Paris,_20th_arrondissement).jpg|[[Parc de Belleville]]
Parc_de_Belleville_(stairs).jpg|Stairs in the [[Parc de Belleville]]
P1010045 Paris XX Église Notre-Dame-de-la-Croix de Ménilmontant reductwk.JPG|[[Église Notre-Dame-de-la-Croix de Ménilmontant]] in [[Ménilmontant]]
</gallery>
Lamorisse, a former auditor at the [[Institut des hautes études cinématographiques]] (IDHEC), employed a crew composed entirely of IDHEC graduates for the film.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tessonneau |first1=Rémy |last2=Ferguson |first2=Charles |date=1957 |title=The French Institute Of Cinema (IDHEC) |journal=Journal of the University Film Producers Association |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=4–6 |jstor=20686478}}</ref>
The main role of Pascal is played by Lamorisse's son, Pascal Lamorisse. French singer [[Renaud]] and his brother appear at the end of the film as twin brothers in red coats. They were cast in the roles through their uncle, [[Edmond Séchan]], the film's [[director of photography]].<ref>{{Cite news |author=E. M. |date=16 April 2016 |title=Dans son clip, Renaud à... 4 ans ! |url=http://www.leparisien.fr/culture-loisirs/dans-son-clip-renaud-a-4-ans-16-04-2016-5719563.php |access-date=9 May 2020 |work=Le Parisien}}</ref>
==Release==
The film premiered and opened nationwide in [[France]] on 19 October 1956; it was released in the United Kingdom on 23 December 1956 (as the supporting film to the 1956 Royal Performance Film ''[[The Battle of the River Plate (film)|The Battle of the River Plate]]'', which ensured it a [[Wide release|wide distribution]]) and in the United States on 11 March 1957.
The film has been featured in many festivals over the years, including the Wisconsin International Children's Film Festival; the Los Angeles Outfest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival; the [[Wisconsin Film Festival]]; and others.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}
The film, in its American [[television]] premiere, was introduced by then-actor [[Ronald Reagan]] as an episode of the [[CBS]] [[anthology series]] ''[[General Electric Theater]]'' on 2 April 1961.{{cn|date=December 2024}}
The film is popular in elementary classrooms throughout the United States and Canada. A four-minute clip is on the rotating list of programming on [[Classic Arts Showcase]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}
===Reception===
Since its first release in 1956, the film has generally received overwhelmingly favorable reviews from critics. The film critic for ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[Bosley Crowther]], hailed the simple tale and praised director Lamorisse, writing: "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 those who puncture them."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D07E7DC1639E33BBC4A52DFB566838C649EDE|last=Crowther|first=Bosley|title=Screen: Documentary and Fantasy; 'Lost Continent,' 'Red Balloon' on Bill|work=The New York Times|date=12 March 1957|access-date=9 May 2020}}</ref>
When the film was re-released in the United States in late 2006 by [[Janus Films]], ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' magazine film critic [[Owen Gleiberman]] praised its 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 impossible joy of being a child again."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://ew.com/article/2007/11/21/red-balloon/|last=Gliebermann|first=Owen|title=The Red Balloon|work=EW.com|date=21 November 2007|access-date=9 May 2020}}</ref>
Film critic Brian Gibson wrote: "So far, this seems a post-Occupation France happy to forget the blood and death of [[Adolf Hitler]]'s war a decade earlier. But soon people’s occasional, playful efforts to grab the floating, carefree balloon become grasping and destructive. In a gorgeous sequence, light streaming down alleys as children's shoes clack and clatter on the cobblestones, the balloon bouncing between the walls, Pascal is hunted down for his floating pet. Its ballooning sense of hope and freedom is deflated by a fierce, squabbling mass. Then, fortunately, it floats off, with the breeze of magic-realism, into a feeling of escape and peace, ''The Red Balloon'' taking hold of Pascal, lifting him out of this rigid, petty, earthbound life."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=7536|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130205160335/http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=7536|url-status=usurped|archive-date=5 February 2013|last=Gibson|first=Brian|title=What childhood films are these?|work=archive.is|date=5 February 2007|access-date=9 May 2020}}</ref>
In a review in ''[[The Washington Post]]'', critic Philip Kennicott had a cynical view: "[The film takes] place in a world of lies. Innocent lies? Not necessarily. ''The Red Balloon'' may be the most seamless fusion of [[capitalism]] and [[Christianity]] ever put on film. A young boy invests in a red balloon the love of which places him on the outside of society. The balloon is hunted down and killed on a barren hilltop—think [[Calvary]]—by a mob of cruel boys. The ending, a bizarre emotional sucker punch, is straight out of the [[New Testament]]. Thus is investment rewarded—with Christian [[Transcendence (philosophy)|transcendence]] or, at least, an old-fashioned [[Assumption of Mary|Assumption]]. This might be sweet. Or it might be a very cynical reduction of the primary impulse to religious faith."<ref name="Kennicott"/>
The review aggregator [[Rotten Tomatoes]] reported that 95% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on twenty reviews. The critical consensus reads: "''The Red Balloon'' invests the simplest of narratives with spectacular visual inventiveness, making for a singularly wondrous portrait of innocence."<ref>[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/red_balloon/ ''The Red Balloon''] at [[Rotten Tomatoes]]. Accessed July 29, 2013.</ref>
===Accolades===
* [[Prix Louis Delluc]]: Prix Louis Delluc; Albert Lamorisse, 1956.<ref>(The A to Z of French Cinema, P.xxx) 1956: December: Albert Lamorisse's Le Ballon rouge wins the Prix Louis-Delluc Accessed February 12, 2018.</ref>
* [[Cannes Film Festival]]: ''Palme d'Or du court métrage''/[[Golden Palm]]; Best Short Film, Albert Lamorisse, 1956.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cineressources.net/archives/recherche_s/index.php|title=Recherche spécifique - Archives|website=www.cineressources.net|access-date=2018-09-22}}</ref>
* [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]]: BAFTA Award; Special Award, France, 1957.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://awards.bafta.org/keyword-search?keywords=the+red+balloon|title=BAFTA Awards Search {{!}} BAFTA Awards|website=awards.bafta.org|language=en|access-date=2018-09-22}}</ref>
* [[Academy Awards]]: Oscar; [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Writing, Best Original Screenplay]], Albert Lamorisse, 1957.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1957/|title=1957 Archives - National Board of Review|website=National Board of Review|language=en-US|access-date=2018-09-22}}</ref>
* [[National Board of Review]]: [[National Board of Review Awards 1957|Top Foreign Films]], 1957.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/awards.php?award_id=nyfcc&year=1957|title=FilmAffinity|website=FilmAffinity|language=en|access-date=2018-09-22}}</ref>
==Legacy==
In 1960, Lamorisse released a second film, ''[[Stowaway in the Sky]]'', which also starred Pascal and was a [[spiritual successor]] to the film.
Bob Godfrey's and Zlatko Grgic's 1979 animated film ''[[Dream Doll]]'' has a very similar plot and ending to the film, except instead of a boy being obsessed with a red balloon, the protagonist is a man obsessed with an inflatable nude woman.
A stage adaptation by Anthony Clark was performed at the [[Royal National Theatre]] in 1996.<ref>''The Red Balloon'', Anthony Clark. London: Oberon Books, 2000, {{ISBN|978-1-84002-079-3}}. Accessed February 12, 2018.</ref>
[[Don Hertzfeld]]'s 1997 short film ''[[Billy's Balloon]]'', which also showed at Cannes, is a parody of the film.
The music video for "Son of Sam" by [[Elliott Smith]], from his 2000 album ''[[Figure 8 (album)|Figure 8]]'', is a direct homage to the film.
[[Hou Hsiao-hsien]]'s 2007 film ''[[Flight of the Red Balloon]]'' is a direct homage to the film.
A boy with a bright red balloon is featured in the epilogue of [[Damien Chazelle]]'s 2016 musical film ''[[La La Land (film)|La La Land]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2016/12/13/la_la_land_s_many_references_to_classic_movies_from_singin_in_the_rain_to.html|title=La La Land's Many References to Classic Movies: A Guide|last=Harris|first=Aisha|date=2016-12-13|work=Slate|access-date=2018-09-22|language=en-US|issn=1091-2339}}</ref>
The Pascal and Sabine<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pascal & Sabine|url=https://www.pascalandsabine.com/|access-date=2020-07-10|website=Pascal & Sabine|language=en-US}}</ref> restaurant in [[Asbury Park, New Jersey]] is named in honor of the film.
Guitarist Keith Calmes' album ''Follow the Red Balloon''<ref>{{Citation|title=Follow the Red Balloon|url=https://open.spotify.com/album/6Pe53G3FaCYGeiIY8l2Wsr|language=en|access-date=2020-07-10}}</ref> is named as an homage to the spirit of Pascal and Sabine.
In ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "[[The Crepes of Wrath]]", [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] returns from France bearing gifts for his family; his gift to [[Maggie Simpson|Maggie]] is a red balloon.
The red ballon appears (in three images on pages 162 and 163) of [[Jacques Tardi]]'s ''Du Rififi à Menilmontant'' (Casterman, 2024), where private investigator [[Nestor Burma]] perambulates in the 20ème arrondissement during Christmas season, 1957. This is an original story by Tardi.
==Merchandise==
===Home media===
The film was first released on VHS by [[Embassy Home Entertainment]] in 1984. A [[laserdisc]] of it was later released by [[The Criterion Collection]] in 1986, and was produced by Criterion, Janus Films, and Voyager Press. Included in it was Lamorisse's award-winning short ''[[White Mane]]'' (1953). A DVD version became available in 2008, and a [[Blu-ray]] version was released in the United Kingdom on January 18, 2010; it has now been confirmed as region-free.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.janusfilms.com/redandwhite/|title=The Red Balloon & White Mane|website=www.janusfilms.com|access-date=2018-09-22}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=The Red Balloon / The White Mane Blu-ray|url=http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Red-Balloon-Blu-ray-Review/6245/|access-date=2018-09-22}}</ref>
===Book===
A tie-in book was first published by [[Doubleday Books]], (now [[Penguin Random House]]), in 1957, using black and white and color stills from the film, with added prose. It was highly acclaimed and went on to win a 'New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year'. Lamorisse was credited as its sole author.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/97392/the-red-balloon-by-albert-lamorisse/9781101935217/|title=The Red Balloon by Albert Lamorisse|website=PenguinRandomhouse.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-09-22}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0048980|The Red Balloon}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|red_balloon|The Red Balloon}}
* {{TCMDb title|344209|The Red Balloon}}
* [http://www.janusfilms.com/redandwhite/ ''The Red Balloon''] at [[Janus Films]] (official web site)
* [http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/dvdreviews36/the_red_balloon.htm ''The Red Balloon''] information site and DVD/Blu-ray review at DVD Beaver (includes images)
* [http://www.cinefeed.com/index.php/2006/10/22/44-le-ballon-rouge-premiers-souvenirs-cine ''Le Ballon rouge''] at ''Cinefeed'' {{in lang|fr}}
{{Short Film Palme d'Or Winners}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Red Balloon, The}}
[[Category:1950s French-language films]]
[[Category:1950s fantasy comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:French fantasy comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:French comedy-drama short films]]
[[Category:Balloons]]
[[Category:1950s children's fantasy films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Albert Lamorisse]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1950s]]
[[Category:Films shot in Paris]]
[[Category:Films whose writer won the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award]]
[[Category:Louis Delluc Prize winners]]
[[Category:Short Film Palme d'Or winners]]
[[Category:1956 comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1956 films]]
[[Category:1950s French films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Maurice Le Roux]]
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