Le voyage du ballon rouge 2007
The Journey of the Red Balloon (Le Voyage du Ballon Rouge) is a film directed by Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien. Inspired by Albert Lamorisse’s popular 1956 short film The Red Balloon, the story follows a mysterious red balloon wandering the streets of Paris, witnessing fragmented lives, broken families, and loneliness in the heart of a bustling city. Little Simon, chased by the Red Balloon, lives with his mother Suzanne in a small apartment. Suzanne, a voice actress at a puppet theater, struggles to raise her son alone. She finds a Chinese student named Song to look after Simon. Suzanne, feeling guilty for neglecting her son at times, tries to make it up to him. However, issues with her downstairs tenant and ex-husband overshadow her attempts to understand her son’s emotional world. The Journey of the Red Balloon premiered at the 60th Cannes Film Festival in May 2007, opening to critical acclaim.
