Animism is the belief that inanimate objects have souls. In a way, it’s self-reflective as people often project themselves upon many things. Many movies share this view as produced by such companies as Disney and Pixar. You may remember human representations depicted by brave toasters, cowboy dolls, or even a French candlestick. Essentially, we like to see ourselves but in ways that relate other things to us. The best way to accomplish this is pure simple expression through actions we see everyday but give little mind to in our daily lives.
Floating follows the journey of a helium-filled anthropoid, an amalgamation of crimson balloons made to resemble a person. We follow him moving about in the city watching and trying to connect to society only to utterly fail. This is until he meets his soul-mate and does everything to be with her. This piece is directed by celebrated music director Greg Jardin. While the main focus is on our red friend and his quest, credit should be given to the supporting cast. Roaming the city are actors Kito Robinson and Steve Isaacs, among others.
Of everything presented in the film, the aesthetics are the most wonderful. You can find this emphasized in the protagonist by the way he moves and how legitimately visceral it feels as a viewer. A drawback of being a balloon man is that your body can pop by the whims of clumsy apathetic people. Throughout the film, he loses parts of himself and it elicits sympathy due to the nature of his character.
It becomes even more painful to watch once he chases after his soul-mate because at one point he’ll be forced to hop. Due to the fact he has no voice, his movements gain more expressive power. A good example is when a little girl comes up to wave at him and he in turn waves back at her. This rare moment of acknowledgment is broken when the girl’s mother arrives, takes her, and pops his foot upon leaving.
Music is something I rarely talk about, but is necessary. You basically hear a piano on top of the ambient noises of the city. The reason I bring it up is that the compositions are wonderful. It doesn’t intrude upon the suspension of disbelief but rather uplifts the gravitas of what the protagonist is enduring. During his initial phase to seek out community, the tempo of the music is slow and harmonizes well with the scenes. As he strikes out on obtaining companionship, the music emphasizes the loneliness and crushing isolation. After he finds and subsequently loses sight of his significant other, the tempo gets faster as he is running around frantically to find her again.
The concept Floating focuses on and everything that enhances it is beautiful and thoughtful. Although, I have my issues with the editing and cinematography. Upon reading some other reviews, I found that I agreed with the notion it could be much shorter and still be as effective. Many of the scenes are repetitive in terms of the emphasis on loneliness. For example, the kids playing with their dad at the park could have been edited out. The stronger scenes are the ones that force the participation of the protagonist like the scene with the little girl I mentioned before. One of the couples in the beginning could have been edited out as well.
My other issue is the cinematography near the end of the film. They have corporate buildings in the shot like Bank of America or City National Bank. It’s not due to any personal issue I have with those places of business but they’re intrusive in regards to the shot. BoA’s logo is mostly blue in a sea of buildings overtaken by an orange sky. Our focus is suppose to be on the space-bound balloons, whose colors are eye-catching themselves, but the logo cannot be ignored. Then there’s the shot with the Paul Hastings building and City National Bank building. They are featured prominently in the center of their shot for its duration.
Overall, Floating is a nice film to remind you how heartbreaking being alone can be. On top of that though is a nice love story played out by balloons designed to look like people. If you’re a sensitive creature, be warned that your tears can flow out at any time while watching this. Other than that, watch it for the expressive movement or lovely piano accompaniment. Enjoy!
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