Up, Up, Here We Go, Go..Where We Stop, Nobody Knows, Knows

Last night, I watched two movies. I did not plan to watch them together; it was a completely serendipitous event. Both movies had been loaned to me under completely different circumstances; my only motivation was to watch them so I could return them to their rightful owners. But after watching them, I found that they fit together perfectly to teach me an important lesson. 

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First I watched Night Crossing, a movie that is being passed around by my history students' families. As I explained here, we have been studying the post-World War II partitioning of Germany, and this little-known Disney film tells a true story from that era. Two daring East German families attempt to escape their life of captivity by building their own hot air balloon and flying away to freedom in West Germany. 

Spoiler alert: it ends happy.

Though I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised at the scary and tense moments at several points in the movie. It was filmed in 1982, and like many other family-friendly movies of that age, it started out with a schmaltzy vibe that kinda put me off. But despite these few dated touches, the movie rang true and scared the life out of me in its most important moments.

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If you'd like to read a more objective and thorough summary of the movie, you can check out IMDB or Wikipedia.

But for a true taste of what Night Crossing has to offer, watch this video. It shows the first ten minutes and leaves off in a scene of mounting tension; definitely recommend you keep going

And if you don't have ten minutes, just watch the first 1:30 to see a short montage of historic clips that summarize the situation in East Germany during this era. It's good stuff.

Although Night Crossing definitely ends on a high note, it is a somber movie. As soon as I finished it, I felt the need to lighten up my Friday night mood, so immediately I popped this little French children's film into the DVD player and hit play.  

Le Ballon Rouge, as originally titled in French, won many prestigious awards after its 1956 release and is widely acclaimed to this day. I saw it as a child and found it mystifying; when my third-born mentioned that she has watched it in her French class, I decided to revisit the old classic and see how it was holding up.

Told through beautiful images accompanied by an expressive musical score but almost no dialogue, this is the love story of a little boy and the red balloon he finds. Their adventures play out on the streets of an ancient Parisian neighborhood; the colors, textures and ambiance of the film will feast your eyes. More than a simple prop or even a stylish metaphor, the red balloon becomes a saucy little character with at least as much charm and wit as her human co-star.

IMDB or Wikipedia

This movie also ends on a high note. Watch the ending and you'll see that I mean that in more ways than one. But honestly, just watch the whole thing. It's only 35 minutes long and it's right here. You'll be glad you did.

{Please ignore the ridiculous intro - it won't last long.}

How completely shocked and surprised I was to find that both of my movies ended with the image of bold, beautiful, colorful balloons carrying people away from their old lives of sadness toward an exciting if unknown future!

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What I draw from these movies is a valuable reminder that life is about taking chances and trusting that there is always hope for a better future. Rather than let our fears hold us back, we must dream our dreams and allow the winds of fate to lift us up and carry us up, up and away.

If anyone wants to offer me a ride in a hot air balloon, I will definitely say yes.