My first Hou Hsiao Hsien, and not precisely what I'd expected - much more in the social realist vein than I'd expected, to begin with! But 'social realism' isn't precisely what was going on here - more a kind of cinematic naturalism, interleaved with moments of pure cinema (the latter mostly involving the course of the red balloon itself). The film's pleasures are subtle but real, and it has an affect which has lingered even though 'the film itself' didn't leave much of an impression at the time.
(w/ Ruth, Jarrod, Steph and Roslyn)
