199 - The Red Balloons
It's post number 199 and it's about balloons. Nena's 1984 song is only one digit away from being the perfect song for this post.
The Red Balloon 1956
In 1956, a feature film called The Red Balloon by Albert Lamorisse was released. This was absolute magic to me as a child. I don't know what age I first saw it, but I watched it with the open mind of a young child. Even watching it as an adult makes me feel that sense of wonder and excitement again.
The use of colour in the film is spectacular. The post war, bombed out Parisian landscape is toned down to grey blue. The red balloon bounces around the crumbling concrete like a mischievous red blood cell, bringing life to everything it touches.
I never remember the plot (only the feeling of magic), and watch it fresh every time.
Watch The Red Balloon
I can't share the film but it is free to watch on YouTube - link below.
The Red Balloon 1956 by Albert Lamorisse
Inspired By
Here is a collection of art, films and music video inspired by the film.
Parody
This parody of the red balloon seems to have a cult following.
Here's a couple of comments from under the YouTube video:
"Never forget that this Grand Jury Award-Winning short was given a “B” grade when Don submitted it as his class project."
"I used to pass Rejected around in grade school on floppy disks. When the internet did NOT do video. But we managed to find and share it. It gave me such hope, because it was like the art I was creating. The art that my teachers put me into counseling to beat out of me. Finally, I was seeing something like my visions given some legitimacy. Work I knew could bloom into something truly expressive and beautiful if given time to grow."
Nostalgia
Shoots the red balloon as a pop video.
Modern version
I fancy watching this - a good moody French film? It stars Juliette Binoche and Hippolyte Girardot and it was released in 2007.
Homage
Banksy often references other artists in his work. I love his piece with the Keith Haring dog on a lead. He also did a piece with a Basquiat style figure being searched by police.
The girl with the heart balloon changes a couple of elements of the Red Balloon film trope. Boy replaced by girl and a round balloon becomes a heart. It manages to express what the whole film expresses, in one image. It's interesting that it wouldn't work the other way round. A heart shaped red balloon in the original film, would have been too sentimental.
Disney
Take a look at this lush clip from the Disney film UP where the house takes off.
I love the way it's now a person at the end of their life who is the star character.