Flight of the Red Balloon

May 17, 2007

1h 57m

★ 6.1

Overview

The first part in a new series of films produced by Musée d'Orsay, 'Flight of the Red Balloon' tells the story of a French family as seen through the eyes of a Chinese student. The film was shot in August and September 2006 on location in Paris. This is Hou Hsiao-Hsien's first Western film. It is based on the classic French short The Red Balloon directed by Albert Lamorisse.

Genres

Family

Drama

Production Companies

3H Productions

Margo Films

Les Films du Lendemain

ARTE France Cinéma

Musée d'Orsay

Flight of the Red Balloon Trailers

Cast

Suzanne

Juliette Binoche

Simon

Simon Iteanu

Song

Song Fang

Marc

Hippolyte Girardot

Louise

Louise Margolin

Anna

Anna Sigalevitch

Flore

Flore Vannier-Moreau

Marie, who works as a successful door-to-door encyclopedia salesperson, has been married to her husband Francois for 12 years and has a two-year-old son. Though she is relatively content with her life, she feels something is wanting. Enter 50-year old African-American Bill. Initially she is annoyed by his insouciance, but she finds that she is irresistibly attracted to him. Soon the two are in the midst of sordid illicit affair. She knows little about her new lover, and he seems uninterested in learning about her, but the long sessions of lovemaking are something else entirely. Feeling out of control, Marie is increasingly repelled by her own actions. Psychologically, she struggles to reconcile her torrid encounters with Bill and mundane domestic chores such as bathing her son. Moreover, she finds herself incapable of hiding her adulterous behavior, rather she comes home with scratches and hickeys all over her body, to the devastation Francois.

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