The Flight of The Red Balloon (PG.)
Directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien.
Juliette Binoche, Song Fang, Simon Iteanu, Hippolyte Girardot. 114 mins
People of a certain age will recall Le Ballon Rouge, that twee little tale of a child chasing said inflatable through the streets of Paris with a special dread. Educators and critics adored it truthful simplicity; it seemed like no term would pass without the school TV and video combo being wheeled out of the security vault for a screening in the hope that we might in some way be ennobled by it.
I thought that was behind me forever but now it’s back, Freddie Krueger style, drifting in and out of the latest film from Taiwanese director Hou. Quite how it has inspired this everyday slice-of-life piece about an ordinary, everyday puppet show voice artist is unclear.
The plot - a Chinese au pair (Song) arrives in Paris to look after Suzanne’s (Binoche) seven-year old child Simon and they all get on quite well. Suzanne’s husband seems to have abandoned them to go to Quebec to write a novel and there’s a little dispute with the man downstairs over an unpaid bill but nothing as sordid as drama is allowed to intrude.
Everybody is involved in the arts. Song is a film maker; Simon is a talented pianist while Suzanne appears in puppets shows that are reminiscent of the kind of things John Cusack’s character performed in Being John Malkovich.
It’s filmed in long, slow pan shots that are so gentle they almost seem to tip toe through the scene. The big set piece is when the blind piano tuner turns up to fix the piano while various domestic issues are played out around him. And it is a beautifully rendered scene; I don’t deny that Hou compiles his films skilfully but for many his unforced observation style will be precious beyond endurance. He is not a man to deliver a gripping page turner; he’s more wind rustling the cover of a newspaper.
Directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien.
Juliette Binoche, Song Fang, Simon Iteanu, Hippolyte Girardot. 114 mins
People of a certain age will recall Le Ballon Rouge, that twee little tale of a child chasing said inflatable through the streets of Paris with a special dread. Educators and critics adored it truthful simplicity; it seemed like no term would pass without the school TV and video combo being wheeled out of the security vault for a screening in the hope that we might in some way be ennobled by it.
I thought that was behind me forever but now it’s back, Freddie Krueger style, drifting in and out of the latest film from Taiwanese director Hou. Quite how it has inspired this everyday slice-of-life piece about an ordinary, everyday puppet show voice artist is unclear.
The plot - a Chinese au pair (Song) arrives in Paris to look after Suzanne’s (Binoche) seven-year old child Simon and they all get on quite well. Suzanne’s husband seems to have abandoned them to go to Quebec to write a novel and there’s a little dispute with the man downstairs over an unpaid bill but nothing as sordid as drama is allowed to intrude.
Everybody is involved in the arts. Song is a film maker; Simon is a talented pianist while Suzanne appears in puppets shows that are reminiscent of the kind of things John Cusack’s character performed in Being John Malkovich.
It’s filmed in long, slow pan shots that are so gentle they almost seem to tip toe through the scene. The big set piece is when the blind piano tuner turns up to fix the piano while various domestic issues are played out around him. And it is a beautifully rendered scene; I don’t deny that Hou compiles his films skilfully but for many his unforced observation style will be precious beyond endurance. He is not a man to deliver a gripping page turner; he’s more wind rustling the cover of a newspaper.
