Flight of the Red Balloon

I wanted to see Hsiao Hsien Hou's Flight of the Red Balloon because it appeared on many critics' best ten lists for 2008; it was named best film overall by many of them. Inspired by the 1956 classic The Red Balloon, it tells the story of a young boy, his harried mother, and his Chinese nanny while a mysterious red balloon occasionally hovers around them.

I must admit that the charms of this film eluded me. When I see a film that is almost universally acclaimed by "serious" critics I wonder if my palate has been irreparably damaged by too much white bread at the multiplex, which prevents me from appreciating the multi-grain. But I've never been one that needed explosions or machine gun fire to enjoy a film. No, this film just struck me as incredibly dull.

At the beginning, young Simon, the son of a puppet theater manager (Juliette Binoche) is introduced to his new nanny, a Chinese film student, Song Fang. She is a great admirer of The Red Balloon, and his making her own film about such a balloon. She and Simon go about their business, and Binoche deals with trying to evict her downstairs tenant who hasn't paid in months--she hopes that her teenage daughter will come to Paris to study and occupy the apartment. That's basically it. There are many scenes of quiet domestic contemplation, such as movers installing a piano, Song making pancakes, or a train ride with a Chinese puppet master. I'm all for quiet contemplation, but at some point I need a reason why I'm watching the film. It's not particularly visually interesting, and aside from Binoche the acting isn't worth mentioning.

After this film was over I was induced into a long afternoon nap, so if you have insomnia try plopping this DVD into your player.