The Red Balloon By Albert Lamorise

Balloons are often remembered as childhood trinkets and decorations; however, the balloon illustrated in The Red Balloon directed by Albert Lamorisse proposes an idea much less rudimentary and trivial. At one’s first glimpse of the film he recognizes two character: the boy and his balloon. Though what one ought to consider is not simply the balloon alone, but instead discover the themes of love and imagination that is only seen when observing the interaction of both characters. With regards to the themes of love and imagination, there are several motifs displaying the boy and the balloon’s affection. Take for example merely the color of the balloon itself; red is oftentimes understood as the symbol of love. However, Pascal and the life surrounding him is portrayed in neutral and unsaturated tones, so Lamorisse deciding to make that observation strikingly obvious raises the question of the significance of the red balloon. Another pattern refers to how the filmmaker uses a myriad of
Concerning the example of the balloon’s color, there is no shift in its intensity since Pascal comes across it tied down to a light post to the end of the balloon’s life. Lamorisse specifically uses this pattern to show the undying childhood bond between the two characters. Now concerning the musical example, one sees that in order to bring the balloon to life, the filmmaker uses a wide range of melodies to portray its emotions, thus disassociating the balloon’s image as an inanimate object to a vivacious character. By doing so this helps the audience relate the filmmaker’s ingenuity to the childhood imagination portrayed throughout the film. Both the themes of love and imagination play united roles because without the child assuming the balloon as a friend, there is no affection between the two and