The Black Balloon was the Australian Film Institute’s major award winner in 2008, taking home six statues, including Best Film, while nominated for five others. So expectations for its quality can be rather high.
The Black Balloon is at its heart, the story of Thomas Mollison (Rhys Wakefield), a teenage boy struggling with his own adolescence, made all the tougher by his autistic younger brother Charlie (Luke Ford). Thomas accepts his brother at home but at school he hides the relationship from his classmates. What follows is a film that though a little heavy on the melodrama at times, is honest, humorous and moving.
The entire cast is superb. Wakefield, who looks eerily like an Australian version of James Van Der Beek, has the tough role of being, well, a teenager. Wakefield’s Thomas is moody, easily embarrased and quick to anger. He makes the role sympathetic and heartfelt. Wakefield is surrounded by Erik Thomson and the always watchable Toni Collette as parents, a duo whose love for their children shines through even as they yell. Gemma Ward is sweet as Thomas’s crush Jackie as well, the two sharing a number of tender scenes together.
Maybe the film’s finest accomplishment is in its portrayal of Charlie. Director/sceenwriter Elissa Down and cowriter Jimmy Jack put Charlie forth as a full human and not a stereotype. Typically, people with autism in films are written as the Holy Fool, a character everyone kind of shuns away but speaks to the truth of the matter at the picture’s key moments. Charlie is not that. Charlie is a teenager who loves his family, his monkey ears hat and his Super Nintendo. Charlie is also prone to having fits in public, running away and screaming. Luke Ford plays him to perfection. It is a bold performance, with big gestures that somehow also remain muted.
By The Black Balloon’s emotional finale, one can not help but be affected by it. Down’s direction can lend itself to the occasional sappy maneuver and the score gets carried away at times. Yet, as a whole the picture comes together, worthy of its acclaim.
The Black Balloon opens today exclusively at Landmark’s Harvard Exit Theatre.
Can a movie be well acted, funny, romantic and touching while still leaving you unsatisfied? Yes, and Moscow, Belgium is that picture.
Moscow, Belgium begins with Matty (Barbara Sarafian) wandering the aisles of a supermarket, haggard and aimless. Her children point out what they need and Matty follows. Finally in her car, she heads home only to crash into a massive truck driven by Johnny (Jurgen Delnaet). Matty and Johnny scream at one another, neither taking blame for the incident. When Matty brings up calling the police for a resolution, Johnny freezes, reverses moods and begs to let it all slide, offering to fix any damages himself.
As Moscow, Belgium continues, Johnny proceeds to woo Matty, with drinks, exotic lollipops and Italian shoes. Johnny fails at compliments, comparing his date to a wise old owl, but his charms are clear and their connection is intimate, aided by the impressive dialogue and easy going pacing of the script. The two begin to date and director Christophe van Rompaey and cinematographer Ruben Impens light theit late night strolls stunningly, turning the street lamps into a daze of burning candles flickering away.
Sarafian’s work as Matty is beautiful, a full woman with honest depth. Her Matty knows how to exploit her strengths and dull her weaknesses. She blossoms when the thought of being more than a tired, single mother enters her life. Delnaet’s Johnny is equally impressive. Delnaet infuses Johnny with a restrained energy that bursts forth with the right moment. He is manic, a person trying to overcome his past problems by ignoring and even hiding them, which is where the movie becomes troublesome.
To give away as little as possible, Moscow, Belgium touches upon the subject of physical female abuse. That is all the picture does, touch on it, a false move leading to its decline. The mindset, struggle and outcome of abuse becomes practically a plot point and nothing more, a maneuver that frankly undercuts the rest of the picture. All of this builds to an ending, though undeniably possible, comes with a tone that feels inappropriate.
Moscow, Belgium opens today exclusively at Landmark’s Varsity Theatre.
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