Bim

I saw this movie in second grade, probably in 1969 or 1970, in Danbury, Connecticut; and I never forgot it. I loved the little boy and his donkey. I mostly remember at the end of the film when he got the donkey back, he hugged it and then said "Ah, Bim !". I almost started crying;it was so beautiful. I think all of today's kids should see a film like this; so simple with a simple message. I cannot believe I was on this website and read about a movie from so long ago. Hopefully, I can find this movie to purchase on Amazon so I can let my 13 year old see it and perhaps, feel how I felt when I first saw it. I also would like to see some of the writer's other films. I hope they are just as good as Bim.

Once upon a time, there was an island where every child had a donkey for a friend. The most beautiful donkey was Bim, and his friend was Abdullah, a poor boy who never had any money to buy Bim honey cakes. But there was a boy on the island named Massoud. His donkey was an old jenny, because he loved nobody. When he saw Bim, he wanted him. Because he was the governor's son, Massoud took Bim, and played nasty tricks on him, like whitewashing his hindquarters and threatening to cut off the donkey's ears.

It''s a charming little fable by Albert Lamorisse, best remembered for directing The Red Balloon, shot in French North Africa, using children -- and donkeys -- as his performers. With its Arabian Nights sensibilities, it had the critics raving that this was the only true children's movie ever made. I'd dispute that as Franco-centric aggrandisement -- I'm very fond of the 1931 version of EMIL AND THE DETECTIVES myself. However this is a very charming movie.

First of Albert Lamorisse's six films for children. All of the films are classics and should be part of any film lover's collection (I'm being a bit generous with Lamorisse's final film, CIRCUS ANGEL which strayed from the format a bit). Not as famous as THE RED BALLOON, BIM THE LITTLE DONKEY perhaps tells a better story. Bim is a loveable, smart and well-mannered donkey loved by his owner, a poor, small boy. The donkey is taken by a rich, spoiled boy who torments the donkey by painting him, dressing him up in clothes, throwing him in the pool, and threatening to cut his ears off. Bim's owner is determined to get his friend back and mounts a rescue attempt. As in all of the Lamorisse classics this is basically a dialogue free film, however, useless narration is provided.

Like "Crin Blanc" and "Le Ballon Rouge","Bim" was in the fifties,the sixties and even in the early seventies, part of an imaginary curriculum of the French junior litterature (and often the first movies the pupils used to see;the schoolteacher took them to the cinemas).Although written by Jacques Prévert ,"Bim" is not as successful as the two other shorts.The story of a poor Arab boy ,his donkey and the jealous local little prince is rather derivative.One should note that "Bim" was made well before the two others and thus can be considered a blueprint.

Pascal and Folco could not go on living in the adults' world ("Le Ballon Rouge" "Crin Blanc" ) but (because it takes place in a foreign "magic" "exotic" country ?) Abdallah becomes friend with the noble boy and his future seems as bright as those of SnowWhite or Cinderella.Is it Prevert's universal utopia?

"Le Ballon Rouge" "Bim" and "Crin Blanc" have long disappeared from the class books and it's perhaps too bad.This part of the French culture is now in the hands of foreign countries ,where critics never stopped lauding Lamorisse's charming poetry.

I was thirteen or fourteen when I saw this film. I remember the sympathetic atmosphere it inspired. I and all other school-fellows viewing that film, we were captivated during all the film by the adventures the action was showing to us. Misery and joy already following one to each other without end. Since we were young teenagers in these years, maybe 1953 or 1954, we were profoundly touched by all the adventures that little donkey was obliged to live and suffer. Since I was a pensioner in a school-boarders, a great part of the night which followed the viewing of that film was occupied by the souvenir of the scenes that composed the plot of the film. But since the final scenes were full of happiness, I succeeded pretty well to find sleep and to have happy dreams.