Press Release Criterion Press Release: The Red Balloon and Other Stories: Five Films by Albert Lamorisse (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

​

Everyday life becomes an adventure in the wide-eyed fables and fantasies of Albert Lamorisse. Balancing imaginative whimsy with documentary-like authenticity, his beloved short films Bim, the Little Donkey; White Mane; and the Academy Award–winning The Red Balloon find unforgettable emotional, spiritual, and moral resonance in the realms of children and animals, while his captivating but now rarely seen features Stowaway in the Sky and Circus Angel exult in the glories of two of his greatest loves: nature and flight. With their astonishing cinematography and purity of spirit, these five enchanting works invite viewers of all ages to experience the wonder, mystery, and poignancy of the world anew.

FILM INFO​

• Spine #1200

FILMS IN THIS SET​

• • 
    The Red Balloon
    
    1956
    Rarely has the spirit of childhood been evoked as exquisitely as in this Academy Award–winning cinematic fable, a fantasy with the texture of reality. On the streets of 1950s Paris, a young boy (played by director Albert Lamorisse’s son, Pascal) is launched on a miraculous adventure when he’s playfully pursued by a shiny red balloon that seems to have a mind of its own—until the harsh realities of the world interfere, setting the stage for a deeply moving finale. Shot in beautifully muted Technicolor, this beguiling allegory of innocence and transcendence has inspired generations of viewers to let their imaginations take flight.
  
  
  • 
    White Mane
    
    1953
    Possessed of the timeless perfection of a fable, this tale about the unique bond between children and animals is Albert Lamorisse’s ode to the awe-inspiring majesty of nature. Amid the vast flatlands of the Camargue in the South of France lives White Mane, a magnificent wild stallion who refuses to be broken by men and instead forms a connection with a young boy, with whom he embarks on a daring quest for freedom. Fully capturing the rugged beauty of its marsh setting, this extraordinarily photographed treasure of children’s cinema—which won the Grand Prix for Best Short Film at the Cannes Film Festival—speaks to the hearts of all creatures yearning to live untamed.
  
  
  • 
    Bim, the Little Donkey
    
    1951
    Featuring narration by celebrated poetic-realist writer Jacques Prévert, Albert Lamorisse’s first fiction film established his stylistic and thematic signatures: elegant simplicity, storybook-like voice-over, and empathetic concern for children and animals. Filmed on the Tunisian island of Djerba, this spirited adventure follows two boys—one poor and good-hearted, the other wealthy and spoiled—who go from rivals to friends as they set out to save a donkey from thieves. From the start, Lamorisse’s gift for bringing forth the inner lives of his nonhuman characters suffuses his art with an otherworldly magic.
  
  
  • 
    Stowaway in the Sky
    
    1960
    Following the international triumph of The Red Balloon,Albert Lamorisse turned to feature filmmaking with another delightful tale of a boy and a balloon. Making spectacular use of Helivision—an innovative aerial photography technique he developed—Lamorisse takes us on the breathtaking odyssey of a young boy (played by his son, Pascal) who sneaks aboard his inventor grandfather’s experimental new hot-air balloon for a voyage across France. Soaring above cathedrals and castles, the Mediterranean and the Alps, Stowaway in the Skycelebrates the natural world and ponders, with surprising existential insight, the place of human beings within it.
  
  
  • 
    Circus Angel
    
    1965
    Albert Lamorisse’s second and final foray into narrative feature filmmaking is a whimsical visual enchantment and an elegant and eccentric comedy. In it, a daring young thief (Philippe Avron)—having been affixed with a pair of wings in order to become a flying circus attraction—finds himself mistaken for an angel, spreading both mischief and goodwill as he travels across the countryside. Lamorisse’s love of flight and his gentle humanism shine through in this work of impish charm and exuberant inspiration.

SPECIAL FEATURES​

• New 4K digital restorations of The Red Balloon and White Mane and new 2K digital restorations of Bim, the Little Donkey; Stowaway in the Sky; and Circus Angel, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks on the Blu-rays
• U.S. English-language version of Bim, the Little Donkey
• New interview with actor Pascal Lamorisse, director Albert Lamorisse’s son
• My Father Was a Red Balloon, a 2008 documentary featuring Pascal Lamorisse and his daughter Lysa
• French television interviews with Albert Lamorisse from 1957 and 1959
• English narrations for White Mane, by Peter Strauss, and Stowaway in the Sky, by Jack Lemmon
• English-dubbed track for Circus Angel
• New English subtitle translation and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic David Cairns
  
  New cover by F. Ron Miller
  
  December 12, 2023

 

[Ronald Epstein]

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See on Amazon

 

[B-ROLL]

About flippin time ... The Network blu-ray of RB looks overly blue and White Mane looks horrible.

 

[Robert Harris]

Would be nice if the color is proper. Shot on 1955 neg stock, and printed dye transfer. No idea as to fade, but may be early enough to work.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Looks a shade darker than the copy on CrtierionChannel. Don't know if they're the same transfer or not.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Maybe it says something about my taste in trashy movies, but when I saw Bim, the Little Donkey is part of this release, I immediately thought of The Apple. Sometimes, I hate my mind.

 

[B-ROLL]

Maybe it says something about my taste in trashy movies, but when I saw Bim, the Little Donkey is part of this release, I immediately thought of The Apple. Sometimes, I hate my mind.

Prolly too much LDS in the 60s

 

[B-ROLL]

View attachment 198602

Looks a shade darker than the copy on CrtierionChannel. Don't know if they're the same transfer or not.

When we saw this in Film Study class we were told they (I believe this is the technical term) fahrted with the color-timing to enhance the colo(u)r of the balloon and de saturate the rest to emphasize the title character ...That is fairly close to the image of the 16mm print we saw..

 

[Lord Dalek]

When we saw this in Film Study class we were told they (I believe this is the technical term) fahrted with the color-timing to enhance the colo(u)r of the balloon and de saturate the rest to emphasize the title character ...That is fairly close to the image of the 16mm print we saw..

It makes sense. Everything from Pascal's turtleneck to the streets and building paint jobs were done in shades of gray.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Amazon preorder live. See post #2