The Red Balloon (Le Ballon Rouge) (1956) (34 minute Short Film)

THE RED BALLOON (Le Ballon rouge) - 1956
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IMDb Rating: 8.1
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048980/
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The Red Balloon (French: Le Ballon rouge) is a 1956 fantasy short film, directed by French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse.
The thirty-four minute short, which follows the adventures of a young boy who one day finds a sentient, mute, red balloon, was filmed in the Ménilmontant neighborhood of Paris, France.
It won numerous awards, including an Oscar for Lamorisse for writing the best original screenplay in 1956 and the Palme d'Or for short films at Cannes. The film also became popular with children and educators.
Lamorisse used his children as actors in the film. His son, Pascal Lamorisse, plays Pascal in the main role, and his daughter Sabine portrays a little girl.
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Plot

The film, which has a music score but almost no dialogue, tells of Pascal (Pascal Lamorisse), who, on his way to school one morning, discovers a large helium-filled red balloon.
As Pascal plays with his new found toy, he realizes the balloon has a mind and will of its own. It begins to follow him wherever he goes, at times floating outside his bedroom window as Pascal's mother won't allow it in their apartment.
The red balloon follows Pascal through the streets of Paris, and the pair draw inquisitive looks from adults and the envy of other children as they wander the streets. At one point the balloon enters Pascal's classroom, causing an uproar from the other students. The noise alerts the principal, who becomes angry with Pascal and locks him up in his office until school is over. At another, Pascal and his balloon encounter a little girl (Sabine Lamorisse) with a blue balloon that also seems to have a mind of its own.
In their wanderings around the neighborhood, Pascal and the balloon encounter a gang of bullies, who are envious of his balloon, and they soon destroy his new friend.
The film ends as the other balloons in Paris come to Pascal's aid and take him on a cluster balloon ride over the city.
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Cast
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Pascal Lamorisse as Pascal
Georges Sellier
Vladimir Popov
Paul Perey
René Marion
Sabine Lamorisse as the Little Girl
Michel Pezin
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Production
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The film serves as a color record of the Belleville area of Paris which had fallen into decay by the 1960s, prompting the Parisian government to demolish the area as a slum-clearance effort. Part of the site was built up with housing projects; the remainder was left as wasteland for 20 years. Ninety-five percent of what is seen in the film exists no more: the bakeries, the famous Y-shaped staircase situated just beyond the equally famous café "Au Repos de la Montagne", the long-gone steep steps of the rue Vilin where Pascal finds the balloon initially etc., the waste ground where all the battles took place. Only the church of Notre-Dame de la Croix, between the Place Maurice Chevalier and the Place de Ménilmontant remains.
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Wikipedia Info!
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This is the only short film in history to win a Best Screenplay award at the Oscars.
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NOTE: I first saw this movie in the theater when I was 10 years old (that dates me). It was the short film that preceeded the Feature. To this day I don't remember what the Feature was, but I have always remembered this movie. It is a wonderful childrens movie. The language is French and I have Hardcoded English Subs into it. DON'T WORRY! There is very little dialogue and only 10 instances of Subtitles. If you are English speaking, the French language will be no problem because there are few spoken words. If you are French speaking the English subtitles should be no problem because there are so few of them.
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This is the story of a 6 year old parisian boy who finds a red balloon on his way to school. Or rather it finds him. Everybody, it seems is rather keen to see the boy get rid of the balloon. He arrives at school and is not allowed to bring the balloon in with him. He lets it go and it flies off, only to be waiting for him at the end of the day, hovering outside in the school yard. Further adventures ensue throughout the day until some bullies pop the balloon culminating in a spectacular ending for the boy.
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Starring: Pascal Lamorisse, The Red Balloon.
Directed by: Albert Lamorisse.
Quality: Very Good Xvid from DVD.
Length: 34min.
Language: French (Hardcoded English Subtitles).
Size: 640 x 480
Frame Rate: 23fps
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Screenshots:
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