The Red Balloon

On stage, a set that looks as if it’s been there for years, as if it had been abandoned. The musicians, too, seem to have come from another time. Are we in the past? Is this just a dream? Suddenly, a xylophone makes its entrance, rolling in on its own wheels; the sheet music begins to levitate, and the mallets start playing all by themselves! An entire world comes to life to the sounds of these unique instruments.

This dreamlike and magical setting is then brought to life on screen in*The Red Balloon*, Albert Lamorisse’s masterpiece, which won the Palme d’Or in 1956 and an Oscar in 1957. In a breath of freedom and adventure, we find ourselves in Paris’s Ménilmontant neighborhood of the 1950s, strolling alongside a little boy and a balloon that comes to life in his hands.

Darius Milhaud’s eclectic music extends this journey through time and reveals a touching poetry.