A Second Persepolis

Culture

A Second Persepolis

Great nations fall. Nothing but wind remains.

The final shot of The Red Balloon is one of the most exhilarating in any movie. In the moments leading up to it, a young boy sits on a hill in Paris, holding in his hands a deflated party balloon. He had loved that balloon, and, strange to say, it had loved him in return. But the other boys in his neighborhood...