The Red Balloon and White Mane

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It is a pleasure to welcome these new, restored high-definition digital transfers of two of the cinema?s most acclaimed short films; each which won the Palme d?or at the Cannes Film Festival for director Albert Lamorisse, and both have enchanted audiences young and old for more than a half century. Appearing for the first time on DVD, The Red Balloon is set, with equally firm footing, in the streets of Paris and the dream world of childhood; this beloved 34-minute fable tells a marvelous tale about a small boy who makes his daily rounds through the city trailed by a magical red balloon. Without dialogue, the story evokes the ephemeral (and imperiled) innocence of youth, that spell-like state that no language can ever really penetrate. White Mane, produced in 1953, three years before the release of The Red Balloon, treats the same theme in a starker and more passionate way. Shot in the wild, watery natural setting of the Camargue in southern France, it tells the story of a boy?s love for a noble and untamed horse. As the pair ride out to sea to avoid capture by a band of pursuers, you feel a piece of your most rooted self break free. Pauline Kael called the 38-minute, black-and-white White Mane ?one of the most beautiful films ever made.? The films are available separately.