Suzanne (Juliette Binoche) is charming but she is a mother snowed under by obligations. With her puppet shows, the classes she teaches and the two children, Simon (Simon Iteanu) and Louise (Louise Margolin), that she has been raising alone since their father left, she hasn't got a minute to herself. To help her, she takes in a young Taiwanese babysitter, Song Fang (Fang Song), who is a student at Paris University. On his way home from school, Simon, who is 7 years old, leads her through the streets and cafés of his neighbourhood.
Soon, Song Fang and Simon share an imaginary world: a strange red balloon follows them, even in the exhibition space of the Musée d'Orsay. While Suzanne is caught up in a court case involving her tenant downstairs, who refuses to leave, every day, Son Fang becomes more important in her life. In the end, it is Song Fang's Asian perspective that helps Suzanne get to grips with her life.
Special Agent Matti
The fantasy, France movie Flight of the red balloon (Le voyage du ballon rouge) is directed by Hou Hsiao Hsien and stars Juliette Binoche, Simon Iteanu, Fang Song.
PG (Mild coarse language)
110 minutes (1:50 hours)
Film: 29 May 2008
