The Black Balloon: Special Edition (2008)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Audio Commentary-Elissa Down (Director & Co-Writer) Interviews-Cast & Crew-Various cast and crew members Gallery-Photo-Photographic Slideshow
Rating
Year Of Production	2008
Running Time	93:00
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4,5	Directed By	Elissa Down
Studio Distributor	Icon Entertainment	Starring	Rhys Wakefield Luke Ford Toni Collette Erik Thomson Gemma Ward Lloyd Allison-Young Nathin Butler
Case	?
RPI	$34.95	Music	Michael Yezerski

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Unknown	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

Despite the production of many fine films in recent years, the Australian film industry continues to fight an uphill battle in gaining decent local support. The big promotional budgets of the Hollywood studios can often turn totally absurd films into reasonable money spinners, simply through very clever marketing. Most Australian films don't have the luxury of such promotional budgets and rely almost entirely on word of mouth to spread their worth. Obviously, this creates a paradox because in many cases the audience isn't there in the first place.

I went to see The Black Balloon in its first week of release, at a local cinema. Only a few minutes before the film was due to start, I was the only person in the cinema. Thankfully, this changed when about thirty late-comers arrived. I remember thinking at the time that yet another quality local production will fade into oblivion without most people even knowing of its existence. Well, I was very happy to be wrong - in this case at least. The Black Balloon continued to screen at that particular cinema for the next couple of months. An excellent collection of critical reviews, together with modest audience support was sustaining its cinema run beyond the typical.

In her debut feature, co-writer and director, Elissa Down has drawn heavily from her own family life to create an honest and sensitive film about adolescent pressures set against the expectations of family loyalty. Life with her autistic brother became the frame from which Elissa (and co-writer, Jimmy Jack) based their story. As Elissa explains in her audio commentary, most of the scenarios in the film have actually happened or are based on real-life incidents. She also wisely decided to set the film in the early 1990's, before mobile phones and computers became essential items in running an active social life for the typical teenager.

Certainly one of the great strengths of The Black Balloon lies in the performances of the entire cast. I'm reluctant to single out an individual performance, but I feel compelled to make special mention of Luke Ford and Toni Collette, who are both sublime in their roles. Also worth special mention is Denson Baker's cinematography, which uses the widescreen ratio to brilliant effect within the cramped confines of the small house. At the time of writing this review the AFI (Australian Film Institute) are yet to name this years nominations for the AFI Awards. However, it would seem very likely that The Black Balloon will feature strongly in both acting and technical awards this year.

The Mollison's are an Army family, so they move house a little more frequently than the average. They are a proud, working-class family consisting of the patriarch, Simon (Erik Thomson), the very pregnant mum, Maggie (Toni Collette), fifteen year-old Thomas (Rhys Wakefield) and his older, autistic brother Charlie (Luke Ford). Although Maggie is usually a pillar of strength, the burden of pregnancy is taking its toll on her body and Simon does his best to enforce total bed rest.

This sets a whole new list of responsibilities for Simon and Thomas and the greatest challenge is Charlie. Apart from his autism, he also suffers from ADD, which requires constant attention and supervision from his family. Charlie stopped talking when he was very young and now only communicates through signing. Like most autistic people, he is a creature of routine and can be totally unpredictable. This presents Thomas with many complications as he tries to settle into a new neighbourhood and school. This is especially true when Charlie escapes the house and leads Thomas on a chase around the streets, resulting in an embarrassing, but ultimately rewarding encounter with fellow classmate, Jackie (Gemma Ward).

In spite of her witnessing the unfortunate aftermath of Charlie being locked unsupervised in his bedroom, Jackie and Thomas soon develop a close friendship. Regardless of the peer group pressures before her, Jackie's level of tolerance and understanding towards Charlie is a great support to Thomas and their rather awkward romance begins to flourish.

As Thomas' sixteenth birthday approaches, he feels comfortable enough to invite Jackie over for the family dinner. With the arrival of a new baby sister, the family settle down to a traditional birthday roast meal. The night is going incredibly well until Charlie unwittingly crosses the line with Jackie and Thomas' restraint is suddenly consumed by violent retribution. Profound remorse follows as Thomas is compelled to find maturity beyond his years and except that his older brother will never be capable of living the life that Thomas wishes for him. Feelings of guilt and shame dissolve and Thomas finally embraces Charlie for who he really is.

Video

The Black Balloon is presented in the correct aspect ratio of 2.35:1, which is 16x9 enhanced.

Icon has done the film great justice by delivering an excellent transfer. Sharpness levels are striking, especially during close-up scenes later in the film. Blacks were clean and free from any noise issues. Shadows held an impressive degree of detail.

The colour palette used in the film is full and vibrant, displaying the colours of an Australian summer. The colours on the DVD are exactly as I remember them in the cinema; they are natural and beautifully balanced.

There were no MPEG artefacts in the transfer. Film-to-video artefacts weren't an issue and as you would expect from a film of this vintage, film artefacts were non-existent.

The only available subtitles are English for the hearing impaired. They are easily legible in bold white and appeared to be very accurate.

This is a DVD 9 disc. The layer change occurs at 71:13 and while it was noticeable, it wasn't disruptive.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

There are three audio tracks on the disc. English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s), English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) and English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s).

There were no problems with dialogue quality and audio sync appeared to be accurate.

The original music by Michael Yezerski integrates perfectly to heighten the emotion of the film. Plenty of non-original music from various artists has also been incorporated nicely into the film. A few of these artists include The Screaming Jets, Jimmy Barnes and The Go-Betweens.

The Dolby 5.1 track is a very sensible mix and uses the surround channels in a subtle, yet very effective manner. The supermarket scene at 37:52 uses typical ambient noise to excellent effect. Another highlight is the rolling thunder and pouring rain at 51:18.

Naturally, the subwoofer was not a big player. It came alive during certain passages of music and the occasional effect, such as the previously mentioned thunder.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

The main menu is animated, 16x9 enhanced and features a sample of Michael Yezerski's music from the film.

Audio Commentary - Elissa Down (Co-Writer / Director )

This is a very enthusiastic commentary with hardly a pause from start to finish. Elissa discusses most aspects of the films production, offering great insight into the actual production and the inspiration behind it. She also includes plenty of trivial information along the way and answers many of the questions that audiences have asked her in relation to the film.

Interviews - Cast & Crew (32:34)

Various cast and crew members discuss the film and their involvement in it. The contributors (in order) are Elissa Down, Tristram Miall, Toni Collette, Rhys Wakefield, Gemma Ward, Luke Ford and Erik Thomson .

Photographic Slideshow

This slideshow plays automatically, displaying twenty-four still images taken from the film. It plays in conjunction with a sample of Michael Yezerski's music score.

At the time of this review there is no R1 version of The Black Balloon available.

The Black Balloon is one of the best Australian films I've seen in recent years. The narrative cleverly avoids over sentimentality, but is often deeply moving and rich in delicate humour. The casting of the film is faultless and delivers performances that are first rate. Highly recommended.

The video and audio transfers are both excellent and do the film great justice.

While there isn't an abundance of extras, they are interesting and worthy.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall