Flight of the Red Balloon Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. Written by Hou Hsiao-hsien and François Margolin. With Juliette Binoche, Simon Iteanu and Fang Song. (Unrated) Obviously there’s just something about French-language films on American movie screens that makes us swoon. Consider the impunity with which they make a sport of our beloved narrative conventions. Taiwanese [...]

French star is a one-take wonder in Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s uplifting homage to Paris BY Jason Anderson Working in France (and outside of Asia) for the first time, Taiwanese master Hou Hsiao-hsien couldn’t have made a more appropriate casting decision than Juliette Binoche. Besides being one of world cinema’s most famous faces for two [...]

By Graham Fuller, Special to The Times IN Hou Hsiao-hsien’s “The Flight of the Red Balloon,” the enigmatic title character wafts around Paris, boards a Metro and catches the attention of a little boy, Simon (Simon Iteanu). Though the relationship between boy and balloon in Albert Lamorisse’s 34-minute classic “The Red Balloon” (1956) was ardent, [...]

The word most apt in describing Dan in Real Life is charming. Usually I’m not a fan of romantic comedies, but this film is a bit different than the usual fare. True, it is a story about a budding relationship, but told from the man’s perspective. What is also refreshing about Dan in Real Life [...]