IFFR Preview #2: Le Voyage du Ballon Rouge

I should have loved this film. Let me count the ways:

• it takes place in Paris, and until the end doesn’t resort to the corny tourist shots of famous sights
• it stars Juliette Binoche
• it’s a quiet slice-of-life thing with beautiful piano music in the background
• it has some gorgeous shots of a balloon wandering over Paris
• etc.

So why didn’t I, and did I even start twitching in my seat, anxious for the end? Part of it might be that I have a cold and just in general didn’t feel too good. But mostly, I think I blame it on the length (almost two hours), and on the lack of an arc. It just goes and goes until it stops, without any modulations. And the balloon, which I found one of the most, if not the most, interesting character, is barely in the film. After a wonderful initial sequence, it leaves for about an hour, and it’s sorely missed.

I haven’t seen the short this is based on. But if it’s anything like the shots featuring the balloon in this film, well, then I think that I could love. This, alas, I cannot.