1200 The Red Balloon and Other Stories: Five Films by Albert Lamorisse

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Jeff
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Janus Films: The Red Balloon and White Mane

#1 Post by Jeff » Wed Oct 31, 2007 7:28 pm

The Red Balloon



Newly restored and available for the first time on DVD, Albert Lamorisse's exquisite The Red Balloon remains one of the most beloved children's films of all time. In this deceptively simple, nearly wordless tale, a young boy discovers a stray balloon, which seems to have a mind of its own, on the streets of Paris. The two become inseparable, yet the world's harsh realities finally interfere. With its glorious palette and allegorical purity, the Academy Award-winning The Red Balloon has enchanted movie lovers, young and old, for generations.


White Mane



In the south of France, in a near-desert region called La Camargue, lives White Mane, a magnificent stallion and the leader of a herd of wild horses too proud to let themselves be broken in by humans. Only Folco, a young fisherman, manages to tame him. A strong friendship grows between the boy and the horse, as the two go looking for the freedom that the world of men won't allow them. Long unavailable in the U.S., this extraordinarily shot wonder from Albert Lamorisse, the director of The Red Balloon, is a work of technical sophistication and immense natural beauty.



....
Janus has put up an official page for them with a new poster and trailer. Just look at all those playdates.

Janus has apparently partnered with Red Envelope Entertainment (aka Netflix) and Films Distribution, who claim that they have "acquired world rights to Albert Lamorisse's Crin Blanc and its heralded companion piece Ballon Rouge."
Last edited by Jeff on Thu Jan 17, 2008 7:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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pauling
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#2 Post by pauling » Thu Nov 01, 2007 10:12 am

Jeff wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2007 7:28 pm
The Red Balloon



Newly restored and available for the first time on DVD, Albert Lamorisse's exquisite The Red Balloon remains one of the most beloved children's films of all time. In this deceptively simple, nearly wordless tale, a young boy discovers a stray balloon, which seems to have a mind of its own, on the streets of Paris. The two become inseparable, yet the world's harsh realities finally interfere. With its glorious palette and allegorical purity, the Academy Award-winning The Red Balloon has enchanted movie lovers, young and old, for generations.


White Mane



In the south of France, in a near-desert region called La Camargue, lives White Mane, a magnificent stallion and the leader of a herd of wild horses too proud to let themselves be broken in by humans. Only Folco, a young fisherman, manages to tame him. A strong friendship grows between the boy and the horse, as the two go looking for the freedom that the world of men won't allow them. Long unavailable in the U.S., this extraordinarily shot wonder from Albert Lamorisse, the director of The Red Balloon, is a work of technical sophistication and immense natural beauty.



....
Janus has put up an official page for them with a new poster and trailer. Just look at all those playdates.

Janus has apparently partnered with Red Envelope Entertainment (aka Netflix) and Films Distribution, who claim that they have "acquired world rights to Albert Lamorisse's Crin Blanc and its heralded companion piece Ballon Rouge."
This is great news considering I emailed Criterion about three months ago about The Red Balloon and they said they had no plans for it. My girlfriend fell in love with this little film when we watched it in the theater a couple years ago. Knowing a dvd is on the way makes up for the rerelease missing Minneapolis.

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Matt
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#3 Post by Matt » Thu Nov 15, 2007 2:18 pm

Criterion Newsletter wrote:How many children first discovered cinema through Albert Lamorisse's The Red Balloon? Long unavailable except in bootlegs and tattered 16 mm prints, The Red Balloon is returning to theaters nationwide, accompanied by White Mane, Lamorisse's action-packed classic about a boy and a wild stallion, both newly restored for a new generation.

The New York Times raved on Sunday that "White Mane (1953) and The Red Balloon (1956) are among the world's most famous and most honored films for children . . . But kids' stuff they are not . . . The tone of both films is that of openmouthed wonder." The Red Balloon is "touching and ingenious," and "if you haven't seen the film since attaining the age of reason, you might have forgotten how dryly brilliant its (mostly) silent comedy is . . . Both pictures have the economy, the clarity of purpose, and the pleasing symmetry of a sonnet." In White Mane, "you sense, as in few other films, the real terrors of nature . . . And Lamorisse, these movies show, really was a remarkable artist: one of the cinema's best poets and a fearless explorer of the scary and exhilarating outbacks of the imagination."

The Red Balloon and White Mane open Friday at New York's Film Forum and nationwide on November 23, in ten cities, including Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The tour will continue through the holidays. Don't miss them on the big screen! Click here for town and theater info, and look for Criterion releases of both films this spring.

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CSM126
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#4 Post by CSM126 » Thu Nov 15, 2007 2:20 pm

Releases? I would have expected them as one double-feature disc.

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#5 Post by arsonfilms » Thu Nov 15, 2007 2:43 pm

CSM126 wrote:Releases? I would have expected them as one double-feature disc.
I assumed they would as well. Perhaps two Night and Fog style releases?

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Cinephrenic
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#6 Post by Cinephrenic » Thu Nov 15, 2007 3:51 pm

Intresting trivia regarding Lamorisse, according to IMDB:
Creator of the board game RISK. Originally, published in France in 1957, it was called La Conquette Du Monde. It was eventually picked up by Parker Brothers, and sold in the United States under the name Risk.
Last edited by Cinephrenic on Sun Nov 18, 2007 11:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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ievenlostmycat
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#7 Post by ievenlostmycat » Sun Nov 18, 2007 11:01 pm

I haven't seen The Red Balloon since I was pretty little, but I just remember it being really fucking sad. I'd be quite curious to find out its effect on me now.

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#8 Post by Shrew » Sun Nov 18, 2007 11:36 pm

Wonderella and the Red Balloon

I remember watching this in high school French, but I hardly remember anything from the film itself. The crumbly VHS likely didn't help much.

I know absolutely nothing about White Mane though. How does it compare?

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#9 Post by HerrSchreck » Mon Nov 19, 2007 12:50 am

IMHO these are perfect for HVe. Seems a waste on CC, but thats just me..

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Jeff
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#10 Post by Jeff » Mon Nov 19, 2007 1:00 am

I'll admit that my fondness for The Red Balloon is based largely on nostalgia. I'll still be going to check out the theatrical release and probably be picking up the DVD though. For those that are interested, it is available on YouTube complete with an old Janus title card. I'm sure that Peter or Jon will read this and yank it soon (as well they should). For now though, here is the first of four parts.

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HerrSchreck
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#11 Post by HerrSchreck » Mon Nov 19, 2007 10:49 am

I always also thought this film was a huge riff off The Little Fugitive, which came 3 yrs earlier.

It's a cute film though. I still think this and WALKER are a waste of space in the collection-- but again... subjective....

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#12 Post by ranaing83 » Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:28 am

Just saw these today at the Film Forum and I was wondering, to anyone who has seen White Mane before, did it have the horrendous english voiceover that this particular version had? It sounded like it was recorded recently, and it was terrible. It really took me out of the film. Why couldn't they have simply subtitled it?

Oh, and I'm not sure if this means anything, but the Janus logo only preceded The Red Balloon.

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Cinephrenic
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#13 Post by Cinephrenic » Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:45 am

These always been in the Janus collection, and have been announced by Criterion for DVD this spring, why the confusion?

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Jeff
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#14 Post by Jeff » Wed Nov 21, 2007 4:07 am

ranaing83 wrote:Just saw these today at the Film Forum and I was wondering, to anyone who has seen White Mane before, did it have the horrendous english voiceover that this particular version had? It sounded like it was recorded recently, and it was terrible. It really took me out of the film. Why couldn't they have simply subtitled it?
Janus wrote:White Mane is presented in a new English translation, faithful to the original French voiceover and dialogue, spoken by Peter Strauss

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CSM126
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#15 Post by CSM126 » Wed Nov 21, 2007 9:10 am

ranaing83 wrote: Why couldn't they have simply subtitled it?
Because little kids can't read?

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HerrSchreck
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#16 Post by HerrSchreck » Wed Nov 21, 2007 12:38 pm

Oh SUURRE! Little kids buying CC's and going to NYFF now? What are we kidding here? What an utter bonehead move. I could see an optional dub being made available for folks who want to plunk their kids in front of the tv when they buy the discs, but I can say from personal experience that nothing-- nothing-- is more distracting than watching a vintage film with a wonderfully crisp and digital clear new dub recorded over the top. I learned that sucker when trying to turn a subtitle-intolerant friend of mine onto MYSTERIANS, and he couldnt get thru the first ten minutes of Toho's new 2006 dub.

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CSM126
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#17 Post by CSM126 » Thu Nov 22, 2007 12:04 am

Believe me, I'm with you on the awfulness of dubbing. But Janus/Criterion is marketing these as children's movies, so they're just trying to make them as "kid friendly" as possible. I'm sure the DVD will be the original french with the english dub as an extra.

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#18 Post by HerrSchreck » Thu Nov 22, 2007 1:16 am

I think it's a bonehead move-- I don't have the energy to research the ads/media theme here, but they must be hip to the fact that first of all preteens don't stay awake for grainy half-century old double-features in weird little theatres... the only reason they'd wind up in the cinema is that mom or pop dragged them in etc wants them to experience what they experienced when young ("pass down the joy" if you will), which will see the kids bored outa their minds and mom and pop Cineaste annoyed by the dopey dub-- two unexcited customers instead of one. It's not like we were when we were kids and all films looked like "film". Nowadays kids are used to something far different than this stuff. I learned that when I tried to turn my most excellent neph onto the far superior (imho) LITTLE FUGITIVE. Within a few minutes he was yawning and in less than ten flat he was outa the room fucking around with some Elmo shit or video game or other handheld.

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#19 Post by domino harvey » Thu Nov 22, 2007 1:21 am

Wasn't the dub track on Forbidden Games more or less the same thing going on here? For kids who live in Brownstones but still can't be bothered to read.

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#20 Post by JonoQ » Fri Nov 23, 2007 1:41 am

When I saw the films at Film Forum last weekend, there was a large group of kids that came out of the screening before me, plus a few at my screening. The ones in the theater with me definitely seemed to be enjoying the movies, laughing, etc. Film Forum even had someone standing outside the theater after the films to hand out red balloons to the kids.

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#21 Post by UbuRoi » Sun Dec 30, 2007 11:25 am

Slightly off- topic, but I remember having to watch "Red Balloon" in kindergarten, and being very moved by it, especially when those little rat bastards start mindlessly assaulting the Red Balloon (though seeing it as an adult at Film Forum, perversely made me chuckle). The kids who were in the theatre really got into it, though I think more of them like "White Mane", judging from their reactions. Count me in as one of the few who is actually kind of excited that this is coming out on Criterion; I'm interested to see what, if any, features they attach to it. Any guesses?

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#22 Post by benm » Sun Dec 30, 2007 1:07 pm

Yeah it was the same thing at the pacific cinematheque where for one of only a handful of times parents were able to expose their kids to cinemas other than the big ones. While I found both the movies boring and unworthy of a jean vigo prize, it was nice to see kids enjoying them at the cinematheque.

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#23 Post by ByMarkClark.com » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:10 am

Today Netflix gave me RED BALLOON/WHITE MANE as one of my recommendations. According to them it's "coming to DVD 1/22/2008." But I can't find it available for sale anywhere! Can anyone confirm or deny this impending release?

In the meantime, I added it to my que!

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#24 Post by bkimball » Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:39 pm

ByMarkClark.com wrote:Today Netflix gave me RED BALLOON/WHITE MANE as one of my recommendations. According to them it's "coming to DVD 1/22/2008." But I can't find it available for sale anywhere! Can anyone confirm or deny this impending release?
I noticed the same thing. Odd - maybe this is a sign of future deals between Janus and Red Envelope or whatever it's called.
Last edited by bkimball on Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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#25 Post by Cinephrenic » Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:50 pm

Great! Obviously, it is coming up for a January release by Criterion. They should announce them next week or so.

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