8.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
On the way to school one morning, a small boy finds a red balloon that attaches itself to him with a human-like intent.
Starring: Pascal Lamorisse, Georges Sellier, Vladimir Popov, Paul Perey, Sabine LamorisseForeign | 100% |
Short | 9% |
Surreal | 8% |
Family | Insignificant |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
French: LPCM Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Albert Lamorisse's "Le ballon rouge" a.k.a. "The Red Balloon" (1956) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new program with Pascal Lamorisse and two archival programs with Albert Lamorisse. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Red Balloon arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The release introduces a new 4K restoration of The Red Balloon, which was approved by Pascal Lamorisse. It is included in The Red Balloon and Other Stories: Five Films by Albert Lamorisse, a two-disc set.
The following text appears inside the booklet that is provided with this release:
"These new digital masters (for all films in the two-disc set) were created from the 35mm original camera negatives, which were scanned in 4K resolution at Eclair Classics, in Paris, and approved by Pascal Lamorisse. The original monaural soundtracks were remastered from the 35mm oprical soundtrack negatives.
Color grading: Jean-Michel Petit and Thibaud Caquot/Films Montsouris Visuals.
Digital restoration: Prassad Corporation; Jean-Michel Petit and Thibaud Caquot/Films Montsouris Visuals.
Disc mastering: NexSpec."
The Red Balloon transitioned to Blu-ray with this release from British label Network Releasing back in 2010, which was one of my first imported releases and remains one of my favorites. Earlier tonight, I viewed the new 4K makeover and then did a number of comparisons with the original release. The Red Balloon looks quite different now. It has a much warmer appearance. Also, it looks softer and flatter, especially in darker areas where there should be plenty of nuances to be seen. The softness and flatness are introduced by improper gamma levels that affect the dynamic range of the visuals, and all of this is a byproduct of the color tweaks that were made to make the entire film appear warmer. The primaries that are affected the most are blues, which now shift toward turquoise, and reds, which now shift toward light brown. You can see how gamma levels are impacted here and here. Where the fluctuations are most obvious, it looks like filtering has been applied. You can see how the primaries and the dynamic range of the visuals are affected here (and compare here) and here (and compare here). While some of the color adjustments are easy to tolerate, the discrepancies in the dynamic range of the visuals are not because they directly impact delineation and depth. Unsurprisingly, quite a lot of footage looks better on the previous release. Also, in some of the darker areas where the gamma levels are not right, the gray(s) reveals light macroblocking patterns. Image stability is excellent. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.
The Red Balloon has a lovely orchestral score, which sounds quite good. However, the entire score has a chamber quality, so dynamic contrasts are very, very modest. I did not notice any age-related anomalies to report in our review, but you will probably notice that the upper register occasionally becomes a bit too thin. This is how the audio was recorded, and the same effect is present on the previous release of The Red Balloon. The film welcomes plenty of organic sounds and noises with unique qualities as well.
Nearly seven decades later, The Red Balloon remains the most unique and poignant film to win the Palme d'Or award. Indeed, it is an almost incomprehensibly simple yet incredibly original and magical film that once seen cannot be forgotten. I genuinely believe that the term classic was invented to describe very special films like it. This release introduces a recent 4K restoration. It is included in The Red Balloon and Other Stories: Five Films by Albert Lamorisse, a two-disc set.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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