The loneliness of colored baloons

"La solitudine dei palloncini colorati " deals with the story of the loneliness of modern humankind, eternally torn between the emptiness he feels inside and the need to appear happy and successful in the eyes of the world. Only emotions and feelings save man from inner drift. But precisely for this reason, like a balloon that knows it is fragile, man lives resigned, in the bitter awareness that the good times are brief and that it takes very little to lose his dearest affections forever. And the paradox is that, despite being surrounded by thousands of colored balloons that experience the same feeling of fragility and nostalgia (symbolized by the scenes of the music box), he lives his fears and emotions in solitude, feeling misunderstood.

The metaphor takes shape in the film in the sadness of a solitary red balloon, which was present at the moment of separation between a father and his son due to a car accident, which suddenly broke up a normal family day. In the accident the child loses his life, leaving the father a life of despair, of memories of what has been and can no longer be, symbolized by the music box. The narrative voice sometimes seems like that of the balloon, sometimes it is confused with that of the father.

The film is made using different styles (cartoon, hyperrealism, surrealism), thanks to the use of artificial intelligence. The apparently heterogeneous stylistic choice serves to accentuate the meaning of the film, that is, the contradictions of life, stretched between dream and reality. Also, for this reason, the images, created with artificial intelligence, contain strong contrasts and oxymorons between childish elements of play and lightheartedness, mixed with elements of death or destruction. But also, real images vs fantastic images.

Thanks to the images created with artificial intelligence, the film also contains several literary "visual quotes" or from artists' paintings that talk about the pain of losing a child or in any case the pain of children and the childish soul, created through ad hoc prompts. Among them: Carducci (Pianto Antico), Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Il Piccolo Principe), Carroll (Alice nel paese delle meraviglie), Hosseini (Il cacciatore di aquiloni), Picasso (Madre con bambino malato), Andersen (Il pupazzo di neve) Neruda (L'Infanzia morta)

Finally, the film aims to make the viewer reflect on the great themes of the world declared by the objectives of the sdg agenda and in particular on their impact on the lives and dreams of children (and not only), disturbed by wars, pollution, climate change, violence and gender inequality, accidents, diseases and natural disasters.