The Red Balloon (French: Le ballon rouge) is a 1956 French fantasy comedy-drama featurette written, produced and directed by Albert Lamorisse. The 34-minute short, which follows the adventures of a young boy and a sentient, mute red balloon, was filmed in the Ménilmontant neighborhood of Paris. Lamorisse's son Pascal plays himself in the main role, and his daughter Sabine portrays a young girl. The film won numerous awards, including an Academy Award for Lamorisse for Best Original Screenplay in 1956 and the Palme d'Or for short films at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. It also became popular with children and educators. It is the only short film to win the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The film is considered among the greatest short films in history. It is almost completely wordless, although not silent.
Plot Pascal Lamorisse, a young boy, discovers a large, helium-filled red balloon on his way to school one morning. As he plays with it, he realizes that the balloon has a mind of its own. The balloon begins to follow him wherever he goes, never straying far, and sometimes floating outside his apartment window as his mother will not allow it inside. As Pascal and the balloon wander through the streets of Paris, they draw attention and envy from other children. At one point, the balloon enters his classroom, causing an uproar among his classmates and alerting the principal, who locks Pascal in his office. Later, after being freed, Pascal and the balloon encounter a young girl with a blue balloon that also seems to have a mind of its own. One Sunday, Pascal is told to leave the balloon at home while he and his mother attend church. However, the balloon follows them through an open window and into the church, where a scolding beadle leads them out of the building. As Pascal and the balloon continue to explore the neighborhood, a gang of older boys, envious of the balloon, steal it while Pascal is inside a bakery. He retrieves it, but the boys chase him through narrow alleys. They hold Pascal back as they fell the balloon with slingshots and stones before one boy finally destroys it by stomping on it. All of the other balloons in Paris come to Pascal's aid, lifting him aloft for a cluster balloon ride over the city.
Cast Pascal Lamorisse as Pascal - le petit garçon Georges Sellier as Le directeur de l'école Vladimir Popov as School's handyman Paul Perey as Le père de Pascal Renée Marion as La grand-mère de Pascal Sabine Lamorisse as La petite fille au ballon bleu
Themes The film, set in post-World War II Paris, features a dark and grey mise-en-scène that adds a somber tone to the setting and mood. In contrast, the bright red balloon serves as a symbol of hope and light. The cluster balloon ride in the final scene can also be interpreted as a religious or spiritual metaphor. For example, when the balloon is destroyed, its "spirit" seems to be embodied by all of the other balloons in the city, which some view as a metaphor for Christ. Themes of self-realization and loneliness are also present. Additionally, the theme of innocence is a central focus, as the film shows how a cynical world is transformed into a magical one through the eyes of a child, highlighting the power of innocence and imagination. Author Myles P. Breen has identified thematic and stylistic elements in the film that reflect the qualities of poetry. Breen supports this view by quoting film theorist Christian Metz, who states, "In a poem, there is no story line, and nothing intrudes between the author and the reader." Breen categorizes the film as a "filmic poem," partly due to its loose, non-narrative structure.
Production The film serves as a visual record of the Belleville and Ménilmontant areas of Paris, which had fallen into decay by the 1960s. This decline led the Parisian government to demolish much of the area as part of a slum-clearance effort. While some of the site was rebuilt with housing projects, the rest remained wasteland for 20 years. Many of the locations featured in the film no longer exist, including one of the bakeries, the school, the famous staircase located just beyond the equally famous café Au Repos de la Montagne, the steep steps of passage Julien Lacroix where Pascal finds the balloon and the empty lot where many of the battles take place. Today, the Parc de Belleville stands in that area. However, some locations remain intact, such as the apartment where Pascal lives with his mother at 15 Rue du Transvaal, the Église Notre-Dame-de-la-Croix de Ménilmontant and the Pyrénées-Ménilmontant bus stop at the intersection of Rue des Pyrénées and Rue de Ménilmontant.
Lamorisse, a former auditor at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC), employed a crew composed entirely of IDHEC graduates for the film. The main role of Pascal is played by Lamorisse's son Pascal. French singer Renaud and his brother appear at the end of the film as twin brothers in red coats. They were cast in the roles through their uncle Edmond Séchan, the film's director of photography.
Release The film premiered and opened nationwide in France on 19 October 1956 and was released in the United Kingdom on 23 December 1956 (as the supporting film to the 1956 Royal Film Performance feature The Battle of the River Plate, which ensured it a wide distribution) and in the United States on 11 March 1957. For the film's American television premiere, it was introduced by Ronald Reagan as an episode of the CBS anthology series General Electric Theater in 1961.
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