{"id":889,"date":"2008-06-15T21:30:19","date_gmt":"2008-06-16T01:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=889"},"modified":"2023-02-24T16:18:05","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T21:18:05","slug":"white-mane-red-balloon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/white-mane-red-balloon\/","title":{"rendered":"Crin blanc: Le cheval sauvage (White Mane) and Le ballon rouge (The Red Balloon)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Janus Films<\/a> and the Criterion Collection<\/a> have released two classic short films for children from French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse: White Mane<\/em> (1952), and The Red Balloon<\/em> (1956). Each is mostly silent, with only the odd line or two of dialogue. In essence, both are extended chase sequences that deserve to be taught in film school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I vaguely recall seeing The Red Balloon<\/em> in elementary school, as an ancient film print running through our rattling projector. As the little boy Pascal (Pascal Lamorisse) makes his way to school through a depressingly grey Paris, he frees a stray balloon (the reddest red<\/em> you’ll ever see on film) tangled on a lamppost. The balloon becomes his faithful and playful pet, but causes him nothing but grief. He is kicked off the bus, made late for school, gets in trouble with maman, and provokes a gang of ruffians in short pants. Still, throughout, the boy remains the faithful defender of his adopted friend, and is ultimately rewarded after suffering tragedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Le ballon rouge (The Red Balloon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

White Mane<\/em> is the story of a proud, wild horse sought after by cruel ranchers. Only Folco (Alain Emery), a poor young fisherman, treats the horse with the due respect in order to be able to approach and eventually ride him. The two become equals, as opposed to master and pet. Shockingly, their tale ends in an apparent suicide, as Folco and the horse both chose the freedom of death over living under oppression (poverty for Folco, captivity for the horse).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"White
Le cheval sauvage (White Mane)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Together, the two films present the following morals: adults are cruel and unfair, intent on stamping out pleasure and freedom, and animals and inanimate objects make better friends than humans. Both feature heartbreaking tragedies that would almost certainly never figure into contemporary children’s films.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Janus Films and the Criterion Collection have released two classic short films for children from French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse: White Mane (1952), and The Red Balloon (1956). Each is mostly silent, with only the odd line or two of dialogue. In essence, both are extended chase sequences that deserve to be taught in film school. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,2],"tags":[1089,207,2052],"class_list":["post-889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-4-stars","category-movies","tag-albert-lamorisse","tag-criterion-collection","tag-janus-films"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/red-balloon-feature.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-el","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":408,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/the-dork-report-for-september-1-2006\/","url_meta":{"origin":889,"position":0},"title":"The Dork Report for September 1, 2006","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"September 1, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Sarah Jane Smith and K-9 are rumored to appear in Doctor Who season three's Christmas special. The Criterion Collection announces Essential Art House: 50 Years of Janus Films, a breathtaking boxed set of 50 DVDs and hardcover book. Speaking of Criterion, the restored Seven Samurai comes out any day now,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Dork Report"","block_context":{"text":"The Dork Report","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/dork-report\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Dork Report","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":923,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/malcolm-mcdowell-plays-public-school-war-games-in-lindsay-andersons-if\/","url_meta":{"origin":889,"position":1},"title":"Malcolm McDowell plays public school war-games in Lindsay Anderson’s If….","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"July 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"If.... is the first in director Lindsay Anderson's trilogy of films featuring Malcolm McDowell as the Mick Travis, whose misadventures continue in O Lucky Man! and Britannia Hospital. Everything I read about the trilogy repeats the same word to descibe Travis: \"everyman.\" On the evidence, I take this instance particular\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/if-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/if-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/if-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/if-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/if-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":361,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/the-dork-report-for-august-8-2006\/","url_meta":{"origin":889,"position":2},"title":"The Dork Report for August 8, 2006","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"August 8, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Some bad news for Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood: seems hours of footage shot in low-light on hi-def digital cameras (a la Collateral and Miami Vice) had to be scrapped [no longer online: scifipulse.net\/Dr_Who\/Torchwood_HIDef.html] when the Panasonic cameras didn't perform as advertised. I'm hardly an expert, but don't you thnk they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Dork Report"","block_context":{"text":"The Dork Report","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/dork-report\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Dork Report","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8797,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/albert-brooks-navigates-a-secular-afterlife-in-defending-your-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":889,"position":3},"title":"Albert Brooks navigates a secular afterlife in Defending Your Life","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"May 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"?? I sometimes find it perversely pleasing to hate a much-liked movie -- one enshrined in The Criterion Collection, no less. Nice to know I am not yet a total victim of the monoculture! I do respect one positive aspect of Albert Brooks' Defending Your Life that many reviewers single\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Albert Brooks in Defending Your Life","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/defending-your-life.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/defending-your-life.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/defending-your-life.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/defending-your-life.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/defending-your-life.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1458,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/solyaris\/","url_meta":{"origin":889,"position":4},"title":"Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solyaris (Solaris) is Vertigo in Space","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"January 29, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The opening credits of Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 film Solyaris state it is \"based on the science fiction by Stanislaw Lem.\" It's perhaps telling that the term \"science fiction\" is used in place of simply \"novel.\" This faint hint of apology may hint at a lack of respect for the original\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/solaris-1972-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/solaris-1972-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/solaris-1972-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/solaris-1972-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/solaris-1972-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1173,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/seven-samurai\/","url_meta":{"origin":889,"position":5},"title":"Seven Samurai protect others to save themselves in Akira Kurosawa’s Shichinin no samurai","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"October 5, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai is awesome and perfect, and this most recent viewing has affirmed its place among my all-time favorites. It's a big movie, by which I mean it makes the best use of its generous running time with just the right amount of everything: romance, comedy, drama, suspense,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "5 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"5 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/5-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Seven Samurai","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/seven-samurai-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/seven-samurai-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/seven-samurai-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/seven-samurai-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/seven-samurai-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=889"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8217,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889\/revisions\/8217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}