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Movies / On DVD / The Red Balloon
The Red Balloon

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The Red Balloon (1955)

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Reviews Counted:15

Fresh:15

Rotten:0

Average Rating:8.4/10

Runtime: 34 mins

Genre: Childrens

Synopsis: Perfect for all ages, this beautiful French film is a short with music and sound but no dialogue. The focal point is a bright red balloon, the psychological companion of a young French boy as he... Perfect for all ages, this beautiful French film is a short with music and sound but no dialogue. The focal point is a bright red balloon, the psychological companion of a young French boy as he goes to school and plays with his friends. This classic won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. In 2008, Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao Hsien reimagined the beloved film as THE FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON. [More]

Director: Albert Lamorisse

Director: Albert Lamorisse

Reviews for The Red Balloon

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1 - 15 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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As enjoyable for adults who wistfully view scenes of post-war France in all its black and white chicness, as it is for kids.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
11/19/07
Kate Fuscoe
Kate Fuscoe
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Lamorisse has a unique talent for crawling under the skins of little people.

Full Review Source: Film4 | comment Comment
11/19/07
Film4
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

For those of us who don't have childhood memories driving our analysis, it's a passable kids movie that could be so much more.

Full Review Source: Film and Felt | comment Comment
05/05/09
Gabe Leibowitz
Gabe Leibowitz
Film and Felt

Enchanting.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/08/08
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

The story of a boy and his toy, The Red Balloon is widely praised for its narrative and visual "purity," but not enough is said about the movie's delightful manipulation.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
04/26/08
Paul Schrodt
Paul Schrodt
Slant Magazine

The key to its lasting endurance is in its simplicity.

Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
04/23/08
David Cornelius
David Cornelius
DVDTalk.com

if you missed it as a child, now is the time to make sure you seek it out and watch it.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
04/09/08
Don Willmott
Don Willmott
Filmcritic.com

It's the perfect little movie.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
12/24/07
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

A cinematic landmark . . . Lamorisse's film floats off, with the breeze of magic-realism, into a feeling of escape and peace.

Full Review Source: Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada) | comment Comment
12/15/07
Brian Gibson
Brian Gibson
Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)

A beautiful little meditation on childhood, on imagination literally taking flight.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
12/13/07
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer

These are two unique and unforgettable family films -- one an essential part of world cinema, the other an underseen gem -- that a new generation deserves the chance to get acquainted with

Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI) | comment Comment
12/07/07
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

... one of the best loved films in cinema history.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
11/28/07
Beverly Berning
Beverly Berning
culturevulture.net

The results made exciting, memorable cinema, but could just as easily have turned into disaster. There seems to be no escaping the darker side of innocence.

Full Review Source: DVDLaser | comment Comment
11/19/07
Douglas Pratt
Douglas Pratt
DVDLaser

One of the best-loved and least-sentimental children's films of all time.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
11/19/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An utterly charming little story.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
11/19/07
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
New York Times
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1 - 15 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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