Hou Hsiao Hsien is a very good director with an interesting body of work and this is his first film shot in Paris. It stars Juliette Binoche as a puppeteer voice actress, as well as Song Fang, who becomes the nanny for Ms. Binoche's characters son Simon. Song (that is her character's name) name checks the film "The Red Balloon", and you see the large balloon floating around the city at various times. The film gives you a great feel for Paris, you're right there in the middle of it. However, not much is going on. That in and of itself is not horrible, its just that the characters are not tremendously interesting. You don't come away from this film loving any character. Its just a slice of real life. Not bad, a little better than average, but I wanted more.
Review of Flight of the Red Balloon
