The Black Balloon

As my folks both worked in mental health care facilities, this movie reminded me of visits to their workplace. The audience at my screening were very quiet, yes I know it is a drama, but some aspects of Charlie behavior and reactions of others is quite funny. I felt guilty laughing in some scenes, hopefully it is not a sign of underlying mental issues!

It does make you feel for those who care and live with people with special needs. A movie such as should be a real wake up call, love your family, it's the only one you have got.

A good movie overall.

7/10

This film is an effective coming-of-age drama with the backdrop of autism. Erik Thomson plays a shy 16 year old who's constantly embarrassed by his severely autistic brother, an excellent Luke Ford. Toni Collette plays the pregnant mother and is solid as usual. The drama never becomes morose and there's a playful tone running through the film. Some events are predictable (like the taunting by class-mates and social awkwardness) but they are probably part and parcel of every coming of age drama. The film shows in harrowing detail what it's like to take care of someone with severe autism. Informative and worth watching.

Overall 7/10

Thomas (Rhys Wakefield) has just started at a new high school. His father serves in the armed forces and the family has to relocate regularly. His brother Charlie (Luke Ford) has severe Autism and Attention Deficit Disorder. He's not able to speak and because he's the size of an adult, caring for him is not easy. At the start of the film we see him grunt with delight as he tramples a newly-bought carton of eggs into the kitchen floor.

While Thomas's mother (Toni Collette) has accepted her son's condition, Thomas has not. He wants to keep his brother a secret from his new schoolmates but when one student (Gemma Ward) learns of his sibling, she's not put off.

It's been a number of years since I've connected with an Australian film to the extent that I did with THE BLACK BALLOON. From the interesting title sequence at the start, we're drawn into the challenges of life with a family member suffering a developmental disability. While, I suppose, an outsider could never fully appreciate just how demanding such a life could be, the film gives us a very good idea.

One of the film's many accomplishments is its successful blend of drama and comedy. It could quite easily have been a depressing affair but many of the brother's outrageous acts prove most amusing. On other occasions, they're heartbreaking.

Equally fine is the performance by Luke Ford. Playing a handicapped character is a challenge for any actor, but Ford is totally convincing as Charlie. Never do we consider he's an actor playing a role.

Toni Collette is first-rate as the ever-loving mother. She's heavily pregnant and when complications arise from her pregnancy, we can't help but wonder if the third child will be like Thomas or Charlie.

The most likable of the characters is Thomas's classmate and later girlfriend, Jackie, played by Gemma Ward. Her acceptance of Charlie and her solid support for Thomas makes her most appealing. It's interesting to note that while Thomas sees Charlie as a burden, his formal introduction to Jackie and the development of their relationship has much to do with his brother.

THE BLACK BALLOON is the work of first-time director Elissa Down, who studied film-making in Perth. She has done a sterling job. Having grown up with two Autistic brothers, it must be a profoundly personal work. The screenplay, by Down and Jimmy the Exploder, is honest and moving and the photography by Denson Baker is fine. I particularly appreciated his low- angle wide shots.

THE BLACK BALLOON won the Crystal Bear at this year's Berlin Film Festival. It's an important film and deserves to be seen. The Australian Film Industry, sadly, does not have a good reputation, at home or overseas. But if we make films like this one, that's sure to change.

You know the scene in "Peewee's Big Adventure" when he's rescuing all the animals in a burning pet store, but every time he runs past the snakes he gags because he has a deadly fear of them? Yeah well that was me every time I thumbed past "The Black Balloon" on my DVD shelf. I just dreaded the idea of watching it, for some reason. I suppose it was because I was afraid it would fall into the typical upsetting clichés about people with disabilities: kids taunting them, adults misunderstanding them and, in general, the world being a miserable place to them.

I get that same feeling of dread when watching movies about cute puppies because you know the writer is going to kill the dog at the end for a cheap (but effective) emotional punch.

Anyway, I'm happy to say that "The Black Balloon" is not one of those gratuitous heart clenchers. True, you can expect to see one or two disturbing, "taunting" scenes, but those scenes are poignant and well placed. The bulk of the film is upbeat, and although the character Charlie (afflicted with extreme autism & ADD) is shown to be a big difficulty in the lives of the Mollison family, the feeling I got wasn't "aw pity them" so much as it was "wow admire them".

In case you didn't already know, this film was written & directed by Elissa Down who actually grew up with an autistic brother, and this film was her way of conveying the complex difficulties faced by a young sibling growing up in such a situation. The autistic person is not the focus, not like "Shine", "Temple Grandin" or other films that focus on the autistic person's plight in society, but rather, the focus is the younger sibling who faces a nearly impossible challenge of mixing with society with this terribly unpopular "secret", particularly in the early 90s (where this film is set) when autism was a very misunderstood phenomenon.

Regardless of subject matter, this is a great film that illustrates the virtues of patience, humility and embracing the abnormal. Like the metaphor of the "black balloon", this film can apply to any situation where you are living with an exception to the rule: not a bright, cheerful balloon that everyone accepts but something unpopular--but a balloon just the same. It can apply to family members with Alzheimer's, cancer, AIDS, depression, you name it, and that's why this is a great film because it can apply to all of us. This is the kind of film with no villains, no contrived "good vs evil" storyline, no big conflict-climax-resolution (although there is a very powerful scene that everything turns on). This is a great film about normal characters reacting to abnormal situations. And even though my description makes it sound dry & boring, it's anything but.

This film is mainly about the brother Thomas (Rhys Wakefield) growing up, joining a new school, finding & pursuing love for the first time and balancing all those inherently difficult experiences with the infinitely more difficult problem of how to accept his autistic brother Charlie (Luke Ford). There are some funny moments, some gross-funny moments, some charming moments, frightening moments and disturbing moments. And it all comes together with great acting all around in a quietly explosive story of how to exist with hardships. Like I said, subject matter aside, this film really inspired me to improve my ways in lots of other areas. Not sappy but just the right mix of reality & charm, "The Black Balloon" will LIFT your spirits. Haha get it? LIFT. Needless to say, comedy is one of those areas where I could stand to improve...

It's a pity this film will not be more widely seen. It is an authentic demonstration of what it's like to live with one of the most enigmatic of mental disorders, autism, which afflicts about one person in 1000 (the more common and milder Asperger's syndrome affects about 6 in every thousand). Elissa Down, the maker of the film, has personal experience – two of her brothers are autistic – and with the aid of some truly accomplished acting she avoids cheap dramatics and conveys some genuine feeling.

The family portrayed has its eccentricities but you could not describe it as dysfunctional. Dad (Eric Thompson) and Mum (Tony Collette) not only have a strong love for their autistic teenager Charlie (Luke Ford) but they have learned to cope with his behaviour. The dramatic tension comes from younger brother Thomas (Rhys Wakefield) who loves the brother he has grown up with but finds the effect Charlie's' behaviour has on other people hard to take. Charlie has a few less than endearing habits like throwing tantrums at supermarket checkouts and bursting into other people's houses to use their toilet. The general adolescent horror of people who are different doesn't help much either – having a "spastic" as a brother is not good for the image. Yet Thomas's developing relationship with neighbour and fellow lifesaving squad member Jackie (Gemma Ward) gets a positive push from his situation.

As director, Elissa Down has a nice light touch, and the prejudice and distaste the family have to deal with are neatly sketched in. There are plenty of amusing moments; when a fight breaks out in a bus queue outside a high school several male teachers try ineffectually to stop it and it is the tiny but determined female lifesaving coach who, furiously blowing her whistle, restores order. Tough army NCO Dad holds conversations with his teddy bear and the two brothers wind up on stage together as dancing monkeys after Charlie's original partner throws a tantrum.

It has been suggested that autism, which has a strong genetic component, is a variation on normal rather than a defect, but its severely disabling nature means it has to be regarded as a malfunction. Autistic savants with freakish mathematic powers a la "Rainman" are extremely rare. People with mild forms of autism can function quite well in society, but Charlie is not one of those and will require care for the rest of his life. All this film is asking is for a little understanding of the pressures on families who have to support people like Charlie. I wish one of the commercial channels would show this in prime time instead of the usual reality show crap.