The unobtrusive mastery of Hou Hsiao Hsien, with his long, wandering takes, and reticent, middle-distance camera positions, is unmistakable in this pleasant if supercilious homage to Albert Lamorisse's 1956 classic The Red Balloon. Juliette Binoche plays Suzanne, a single mum with a harassed domestic life. She works for a Chinese puppet theatre company in Paris, and employs Song (Fang Song), a Chinese film student, as nanny to her little boy. Song and Simon amuse themselves with visions of a red balloon wandering across the Paris skies. Too contrived and self-reflexive for my tastes.