The Red Balloon, 1956
written and directed by Albert Lamorisse

This 34-minute film portrays the blossoming friendship of a little boy and a found red balloon.  As the boy and balloon play together in the streets of Paris, they must also dodge a gang of boys that are out to destroy the balloon.  Giving 'life' to the red balloon, director Albert Lamorisse manages to evoke feelings from the viewer toward an object, the balloon.  Using human-like gestures to give personality to the balloon and music to give the balloon sound, Lamorisse creates the possibility that the red balloon could be a living creature.

Music (Mozart) is used throughout the entire film. As the music fills in the void left by the almost complete lack of dialogue, a mood is created that is at times comical and at other times quite melancholy.  I believe the music also helps the viewer get to know the little boy -  his reactions to strict teachers or parents are coupled with variations in the pace and intensity of the music.  The music also gives a voice to the balloon, in which we are able to better understand its intentions and perhaps even its feelings.

Lastly, I wanted to comment on the beautiful cinematography in this film.  So many of the shots seemed able to be frozen into still images.  The camera was allowed to linger on a composition giving the viewer time to enjoy the scenery (in this case, Paris).  The careful attention to the details within a given frame gave us color and composition to consider, while scenes seemed to isolate the few characters (including the balloon) within a romantically gray place drawing even more attention to formal qualities of shapes and colors.