467: The Flight of the Red Balloon (Le Voyage du ballon rouge)
There was quite a bit of running around several weeks back when I was trying to see this over at the Tower Theatre, and it ended up being the first movie I have seen alone. And this wasn't the only thing that made seeing this film a unique experience... But I'm getting ahead of myself...
This joint French-Taiwanese production is naturalistic filmaker Hsiao-Hsien Hou's first western film, a homage to the classic short The Red Balloon. The film however, rather than being a modern retelling, is instead an intellectual musing and stylistic pastiche inverting the original's message into an entirely modern fable.
Part of Hou's naturalistic style is long sequences wherein the camera is kept still, and the movement comes from the people and objects within the frame--a episodic sequence that, on first viewing, seems pointless, even boring. But for the patient and perceptive viewer, the film slowly unfolds and reveals itself, much like a painting, its thematic concerns coming together in several layers both through the characters interactions and visual imagery that is at once highly symbolic and tragically vivid.
Basically, this is the very definition of an art-house film, and not for everyone. But as I have stated, it this is up your alley, it will prove endlessly rewarding (mostly when you start thinking about it after you leave the theatre). Also: Juliette Binoche gives a performance which encaspulates all the above-said qualities, so it's a must-see just for that.
Obviously: 5 stars.
ETA: Here's the trailer.
This joint French-Taiwanese production is naturalistic filmaker Hsiao-Hsien Hou's first western film, a homage to the classic short The Red Balloon. The film however, rather than being a modern retelling, is instead an intellectual musing and stylistic pastiche inverting the original's message into an entirely modern fable.
Part of Hou's naturalistic style is long sequences wherein the camera is kept still, and the movement comes from the people and objects within the frame--a episodic sequence that, on first viewing, seems pointless, even boring. But for the patient and perceptive viewer, the film slowly unfolds and reveals itself, much like a painting, its thematic concerns coming together in several layers both through the characters interactions and visual imagery that is at once highly symbolic and tragically vivid.
Basically, this is the very definition of an art-house film, and not for everyone. But as I have stated, it this is up your alley, it will prove endlessly rewarding (mostly when you start thinking about it after you leave the theatre). Also: Juliette Binoche gives a performance which encaspulates all the above-said qualities, so it's a must-see just for that.
Obviously: 5 stars.
ETA: Here's the trailer.