The Red Balloon (NR, 1957)

This allegorical story of a boy and his red balloon has only a few background words of dialogue. The parable unfolds in carefully plotted images and beguiling actions that give the balloon more personality than some "A List" actors. The balloon ducks into alleys, rises suddenly to escape grabbing hands, pauses in front of a mirror to admire itself. It's as alive as the boy is. Here's the story: A young boy (Pascal Lamorisse) untangles a bright red balloon from a lamppost and tries to give it away, but the balloon returns to him. It hovers outside his window. It follows him to school where, dodging playfully out of reach, it escapes the groping hands of the other children and gets the boy in trouble. A gang of older boys chase the boy down, capture the balloon, and take it to an abandoned place where they torment it with rocks and slingshots. While the boy tries to rescue it, the balloon grows weary looking, settles to the ground, and is stomped on, signaling a peculiar call to arms.

Winner of an Academy Award in 1956 for Best Original Screenplay, as well as the Cannes Film Festival's Grand Prize and, most impressively, the 1968 Best Film of the Decade Educational Film Award, this is a tender, charming, and important film that all ages can benefit from seeing and talking about.

In a world where far too much is overemphasized or explained nearly to death, a film like THE RED BALLOON is a rare and invigorating pleasure. Ask a dozen children who have seen this film what the balloon represents and you might get a dozen different answers. As with White Mane (1952), writer/director Albert Lamorisse's earlier short film, a statement is being made about the darker side of human nature. Through the balloon, that statement can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Greed? Racism? Fear of the unknown? Enjoy the freedom of drawing your own conclusions.