The Balloonists
(USA/UK/Austria, 86 min.)
Dir. John Dower
Programme : TIFF Docs (World premiere)
People have dreamed of circumnavigating the globe since Jules Verne’s fiction adventure books of the late 1800s’ brought the idea to life. However, his most famous novel Around the World in 80 Days, fantastical as it was, remained grounded in the reality that air travel of any kind was unlikely to be achieved in that era. He had previously imagined extended aviation travel in Five Weeks in a Balloon but, again due to the constraints of contemporary reality, confined it to crossing a continent. Although these were mere tales, the ideas stuck in people’s minds, and inventors were attempting to make air travel possible.
It wasn’t long before the ability to fly was successfully achieved by the Wright brothers on December 17, 1903. Advancements in aviation technology quickly followed until people could not only travel by air between countries but also look up to the heavens to wonder where else they could go.
Even after the mid-1900s’ space race resulted in the first men walking on the moon in 1969, there was still one aviation challenge that had not been successfully achieved. It took another three decades for anyone to complete the goal of flying around the world nonstop in a hot air balloon. In 1999, the unlikely duo of Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard and British flight instructor Brian Jones were the first to succeed.
In The Balloonists, director John Dower concentrates on the stiff competition to realize this dream. Many, including billionaire media mogul Richard Branson, were furiously working to claim the prize. Dower’s strategy in the film is wise. With its narrower focus, the documentary is better able to absorb the viewer into the suspenseful action adventure that lies at the heart of the story. It’s not that attempts prior weren’t an interesting part of this aviation history. It’s that this concentrated approach makes for a tighter and livelier film.
In the film, Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard was the driving force behind this duo’s efforts. In fact, his eventual partner in this venture, Brian Jones, was content to live peacefully in England with his wife, giving flying lessons together. But a whirlwind of events sucked him up into Piccard’s obsession.
As a child, Piccard was greatly inspired by the moon landing and, having descended from a successful line of explorers, one could say it was in his blood. His grandfather, Auguste, was the first person to enter the stratosphere in a hot-air balloon in 1931. Three decades later, Jacques, Bertrand’s father, successfully went deeper than anyone prior into the Mariana Trench in a bathyscaphe.
As a result of this family history, the internationally renowned Piccards were guests at the Apollo rocket launches. Little Bertrand was hooked and his imagination caught fire. Knowing that there was still one last aviation challenge and perhaps feeling some internal pressure to live up to this family legacy, the adult Piccard set out to claim his place in history.
The film seamlessly weaves together a treasure trove of archival footage. From news footage to the actual recordings in the craft as they made their journey, Dower lithely switches between interviews that occurred in the past and the more recent ones that he conducted as he made his film. The filmmaker also uses the well documented attempt of others who were competing for this coveted title to light a fire at the film’s core.
Personalities shine in The Balloonists, even within the framework of simple interviews. Piccard is the flashier driven one, while Jones is chatty enough, albeit with his shy smile and a hint of reticence about being in the spotlight. They are an odd couple, and as the film elaborates upon Piccard’s attempts to achieve his goal with others and his often-stubborn refusal to listen to his colleagues, it becomes clear that The Balloonists is also a heartwarming and charming buddy film, even a fun rocky-road movie at times.
There is a lot of tension and emotion in this documentary, some expressed in the actual footage from their trip but much of it is emanating from the film’s core, from the graphic nature of this treacherous trip. The audience is privy to much pathos, frustration and, surprisingly, even humour. Dower succeeds in creating an edge of your seat action adventure in his recreation of the first trip around the globe in a hot air balloon, as intense as anything Jules Verne himself could have imagined. The Balloonists will no doubt be a hit with audiences.
