China’s unique landscapes have made it an irresistible draw for foreign co-productions such as Jade Warriors, Shanghai Kiss and Painted Veil; yet when it comes to Chinese directors, very few have been brave enough – or perhaps foolish enough – to produce films abroad. True, the cost is prohibitive, but this hasn’t deterred Guangdong-born Taiwan-based director Hou Hsiao-hsien (Flowers of Shanghai).

Hou’s most recent film, Flight of the Red Balloon (Le Vol du Ballon Rouge), shot in French with a French cast, was produced by France-based Margo Films and the Musée D’Orsay. The film celebrates the 20th anniversary of the latter, a temple of impressionist and Art Nouveau. The story explores the life of Suzanne (Juliette Binoche), a self-absorbed single mother overwhelmed by the complications of modern existence, and her seven-year-old son, Simon (Simon Iteanu), who is followed around Paris by a mysterious red balloon.

Red Balloon isn’t the first project where Hou has employed the concept of ‘delocalized’ Chinese productions. Indeed, after filming Café Lumière (2003) in Tokyo, he realized he could export his filmmaking style to pretty much anywhere. “During the Café Lumière shoot,” explains Hou, “I gave the [Japanese] actors certain freedoms to do things their own way, and the results were quite pleasing. And so I approached [Red Balloon] the same way.”

Hou usually starts a project by scouting locations to discover characters and eventually writes a script which typically mixes reality with fiction. In Red Balloon, the 60-year-old director blends elements from Albert Lamorisse’s short film Le Ballon Rouge (1956), which offers a French vision of 1950s Paris, and Adam Gopnik’s book Paris to the Moon (2001), a contemporary American take on the French way of life.

Somewhat surprisingly, the result is fresh and free of nostalgia. Hou offers an international eye on Paris; the film is shot in colorful and authentic locations, including the producer’s apartment. “The first day of principal photography,” says producer François Margolin, “Hou came and started to do the washing up in my kitchen. It was his way of getting into the mood and the locale.”

And it worked. Even French critics showered the film with praise when it premiered in the Cannes sideline competition, Un Certain Regard.

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
July 2007 issue