A Boy with A Balloon

I chose to watch two movies with similar themes the other day, The Red Balloon and Little Fugitive . They both tell a story about a little boy, and both were made in the 50’s. The Red Balloon presents us a poetic passage through the old Paris; while Little Fugitive offers a joyful tour of New York's Coney Island.

The Red Balloon is a French film telling a simple and magical story between a little boy and a red balloon he picks up one day. With no dialogue, we enter a visual world by following the boy through many streets of old Paris. We cannot hold our eyes back from the delightfully bright red balloon against the grey cityscape. Hope and warmth rises as all the balloons in Paris fly to the boy after his red balloon is killed by naughty boys.

Little Fugitive doesn’t look like an American movie, for its noticeable European artistic and subtle style. This time, we follow a little boy Joey to Coney Island, the closest fantasy land for New Yorkers. Interesting enough, Little Fugitive has a scene where Joey is holding a balloon in his hand. Thus these two films are linked by a common image: a little boy with a balloon.