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"The Red Balloon" shows us a short story of a boy, not accepted, and somewhat taunted, by his peers, who "befriends" a red balloon, that acts like a loyal dog (i.e., follows him everywhere, does most of what he wants, plays with him teasingly, occasionally wanders off). The boy seems like an outsider amongst his peers, and not well-liked by the adults, but for no reason that the viewer gets to see. The other children begin harassing the boy about the balloon, possibly out of jealousy, and try to take it from him.


As I watched this film, I kept trying to figure out what the point is. Many films have complex plots and/or are laden with symbolic meanings. I ended up concluding that this film is just what it is: a fantasy story about a lonely little boy with a red balloon that is more than just a balloon. The startling ending is symbolic of freedom the cares and worries of everyday life, but that is the only symbolism that I was sure of.


A colleague loaned me this film because another colleague, upon retirement, gave me a print of a picture that is from this movie. It was startling to see the print, sitting framed in my office, show up in this film, even though I knew that it might. However, another colleague had told me a story about the print in my office, before I saw the film, which was completely different from the story of the film, as it had to do with Jewish children using the balloons to communicate with one another during the Nazi occupation of Paris in World War Two.


I don't think I'll want to watch this film more than once. I also think I'll never quite forget it. It was definitely amusing escapism.

Brings Back Memories

Wow, I just came across this movie while shopping at Amazon and was so excited to see it on your web site. For many years, I showed this movie to my 4th graders (when teachers used 16mm movie projectors). I never got tired of showing the movie and watching the students in awe of the little boy and his adventures with the red balloon. It is a captivating story for any child and as the other reviews show, it is unforgetable.

A masterpiece all the way !

Once more the french cinema gave a sample of its incredible and poetic scripts with both of these two admirable stories .
Le balloon roge is a tour de force from beginning to end . Just thirteen minutes were more than enough to put in front the viewer a ravishing and fascinating and original friendship between a child and his rouge baloon .
The streets of Paris will be the solemn stage for this metaphor . The charming images , the certainess the baloon is almost a human being , the charisma of the boy load the first movement . Since the second part focuses all the hidden misery of an envy world represented for a crowd of boys who want steal the balloon .
The arresting finale is one of the most powerful sugestive and eloquent of the cinela story.The music is another important and fundamental device in this fluid movie .
The white maine is a more lineal story . It is about a charming and warm relation between a boy and a horse .
The boy , the timeless symbol of the innocence and the horse , the emblematic symbol of the rebelness , the freedom willl blend in just one just in the right moment .
Both stories are admirable and your buy may be one of the best of your life if you have not yet seen them.
And watch for Lamourise 's son acting as the loyal friend of the red balloon .
Acquire these two works and you will understand the meaning of the state of art in its real meaning.