The short film "Red Balloon" directed by Albert Lamoris, only 34 minutes long, beat Fellini's "Road" and other formal mainstream films in the history of Oscar awards, and won the best original screenplay in 1956. It has to be said that it is a small miracle in the history of cinema.
How was this miracle created?
When a lonely little boy passed a street, he rescued a big red balloon from a pole, so he took good care of it and regarded it as a treasure. This began a wonderful process of "red balloon" amusing with the kind-hearted little boy. : Wherever he goes, the red balloon will follow. It goes up and down for a while, but it won't let him get it easily anyway. The red balloon is endowed with a smart life to accompany the growth of the lonely boy.
The company is not easy. First, it was snatched by a few boys, then locked up by an arrogant teacher, and then surrounded by countless children. It was as if the whole city was surrounded by children. A troublemaker picked up a slingshot and finally hit the red balloon, which slowly shrank, slowly scattered its scars, and slowly lost its precious life.
This process is frustrating. Just after the hopeless silence, everything came alive again. Incredibly, the balloons in the hands of the whole city fell off and shot together, gathered to blow in the direction of the red balloon, and automatically fell into the hands of the lonely boy. He was clenched tightly, and he was lifted into the air by the huge balloon body, flying slowly and gracefully...
This allegorically metaphorical film highlights the balance between man and nature, as well as the equality of man and man. The film begins with a little boy and a red balloon, passing a fragment of a French blue-white-red tricolor. The director borrows the sacred metaphor of "freedom, equality and fraternity" to form the polyhedron and contradiction between human nature and reality.
This film is reminiscent of Tarkovsky's graduation work "The Violin and the Road Roller". It has a different style, but has the same humanistic feelings. They all illustrate the beauty and inferiority of human nature and trigger our thinking.
After watching this film, we have no reason to reject short films, especially such in-depth short films, just as we often can't help but watch Kieslowski's "Ten Commandments" at the same time.
A good short film is really not to be underestimated. It is worth our thinking and maybe enlightenment. In 1956, the Oscar for Best Picture was awarded to "Around the World in Eighty Days". After time, it seems that the artistic achievements of "Red Balloon" far surpassed that of "The Ring", the best foreign language film of that year. The film was awarded to Fellini's "Road", perhaps this is understandable, after all, the best foreign language film is a comprehensive consideration. 2005, March, 21
View more about The Red Balloon reviews