The Red Balloon - 1956 *****

I've never really been in the right mood to watch this short film but last night I decided that enough was enough.

Breathtaking is I think the right word to describe this glorious and adorable movie about a little boy who finds a red balloon with a life of it's own and takes it everywhere with him from his school to the bakery, to his house and through the local streets amusing and astounding passers-by.

The amazing thing about this movie is that the balloon really does appear to have a mind of it's own and we see it follow the boy and 'run away' from other children who want to take it. It's just wonderful to watch and after a while you stop seeing the balloon as an object and focus on it as something with feelings which I have never done before in a film.

It's a gentle film, a beautifully shot experience (the last scene is probably one of the most perfect I have ever seen) and there are maybe 20 words said in the whole thing. This film doesn't need dialogue to show you how superb it is, all it needs is a little boy with the most photogenic expression and a 'character driven' red balloon and you have what is close to a perfect film. And I don't say that very often.