The Red Balloon and White Mane

Before an angst-ridden teenager recorded a plastic bag “dancing” in front of a brick wall in American Beauty, a balloon followed a little boy around the streets of Paris. Albert Lamorisse’s sincere, playful short film The Red Balloon tells the tale of a young boy (played by Lamorisse’s son Pascal) and his ill-fated friendship with a red balloon. It won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 1957.

Related Content

• The Mummy
  February 2, 2012
• Gifts of the Sultan: The Arts of Giving at the Islamic Courts
  January 5, 2012
• The Film Issue: People of the Year
  December 22, 2011
• “Spirit of Modernism”
  November 10, 2011
• Hej-Rup! (Heave-Ho!)
  January 12, 2012

More About

• The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
• Cannes Film Festival
• American Beauty (Movie)
• Short Films
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Lamorisse won his first film award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1953, taking home the Best Short Film award for White Mane, a story about a boy and a different found object: a white horse. You can see both shorts today, and if, after that, you want more Lamorisse, go home and play a challenging game of Risk. Lamorisse created the complicated board game of world domination in between making films and raising a family. (We’re guessing nobody told him there wasn’t an Oscar for multitasking.) 7 p.m. today through Sunday. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet. For tickets and information, call 713-639-7531 or visit www.mfah.org. $6 to $7.
Jan. 4-6, 7 p.m.; Sun., Jan. 6, 2 p.m., 2008