The Man With the Balloons
Cast & Crew
Marco Ferreri
Marcello Mastroianni
Catherine Spaak
Ugo Tognazzi
William Berger
Sonia Romanoff
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
While working on a promotional device for his candy-manufacturing firm, Mario, a successful Milanese businessman, brings home a package of balloons. When his girl friend, Giovanna, arrives to spend the evening with him, she playfully blows up one of the balloons until it bursts. Suddenly intrigued by the idea of discovering exactly how much air a balloon will hold before it explodes, Mario ignores Giovanna's affectionate advances and rushes to seek the assistance of a poet who lives in the apartment above. This man, however, is so engrossed with four girl friends that he ridicules Mario's problem. Now in a state bordering on obsession, Mario demands that an engineer friend help solve the problem. When this effort also fails, he dejectedly wanders into a discotheque filled with huge balloons falling from the ceiling. Driven to distraction by the blare of the music and the frantic dancing of the young people, he slashes away at the balloons until he is evicted. Somewhat embarrassed, he telephones Giovanna and apologetically offers to bring back food for an intimate dinner. But during the meal he once more begins blowing up balloons, and the disgusted Giovanna walks out on him. Alone with his fixation, Mario blows up one last balloon. When it bursts, his mind snaps, and he hurls himself through a window. As an irate car owner complains about the damage the suicide has done to his parked automobile, Mario's old dog climbs to the shattered window, whimpers for a second, and then goes to eat his master's unfinished meal.
Director
Marco Ferreri
Cast
Marcello Mastroianni
Catherine Spaak
Ugo Tognazzi
William Berger
Sonia Romanoff
Antonio Altoviti
Igi Polidoro
Charlotte Folcher
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
L'uomo dai cinque palloni (also known as L'uomo dai palloncini) was produced in b&w in Italy in 1964, then cut and added to a Carlo Ponti production entitled Oggi, domani e dopodomani, which opened in Rome in December 1965 and was intended for U. S. release by Embassy Pictures as Paranoia. The Man With the Balloons is Marco Ferreri's reclaimed segment, released after two color sequences were added and several of the original scenes tinted. The other two segments of Paranoia were released by M-G-M in 1968 as Kiss the Other Sheik, q. v.
