The Magic
of the Kite
(aka CERF-VOLANT DU BOUT DU MONDE)
English-Language Versions:
(1974) Paramount Family Matinee 74 minutes (re-release)
With: Alain Astié (Jolivar), Patrick de Bardine (Pierrot), Sylvanie Rozenberg (Nicole), Jacques Faburel (Lajoie), Gerard Szymanski (Bébert), Monique Hoa, Tchen Ming-Techen, Lou-P'Ung, Alain Astie, Raphael Hassan, Georges Desplaces, Henri Blanchard, Ying-Ghl-Yun, Yuang-Di-Wang, Claude Bougis, Jacques Kubista, Sylvana, Tchan-Tchun-Wha, Sie-T'ien, Gabrielle Fontan, Claire
Gerard, Annie Noel, Guy Delorme, Chun-Hua Chang, Souan Won Kong
***
In Paris, a group of children sit on a rooftop, staring at a strange and beautiful kite which is stranded in a nearby tree. They ruminate on where it might have come from. They decide they must somehow rescue the kite. The local bully, Bobby walks off with his sidekick Larry, planning their own rescue.
The rest of the kids try to climb the tree, but it is too high. Peter wonders what to do. He spies the neighbor's cat, Minou, and gets an idea: place Minou in the tree, and have firemen come to rescue it. Then, they can ask to have the kite removed at the same time!
Peter places Minou in the tree, and the cat can't get down. The neighbors argue, and finally it is decided to call the fire department.
Meanwhile, Bobby and Larry retrieve a ladder, planning to snatch the kite for themselves.
Peter asks his sister, Nicole, to play a part in the upcoming scam. The firemen arrive, and attempt to retrieve the cat. They raise an immense ladder to the tree, and a fireman rescues Minou without incident.
Peter sends Nicole out to do her part; pretend that the kite is hers, and ask for them to retrieve it. The nice fireman goes back up the ladder, and dislodges the kite from the branches.
The firemen leave, but other kids try to steal the kite from Nicole. Everyone looks in awe at the exquisite Oriental design on the kite. Peter decides to fly the kite. The kids walk the kite to a nearby park. Nicole spies a pocket in the kite, and they open it up; inside is a message, written in Chinese!
Bobby and Larry continues with the ladder. Peter decides to take the note to the local antiques dealer, who is Chinese and will be able to translate for them. On their way, Bobby ambushes them, and
steals the kite! The kids fight Bobby and get the kite back, but Bobby has ruined it, and stolen the tail!
The kids arrive at the store. The antique dealer sees the kite, and immediately identifies the figure painted on the kite front as Sun Wu Kong, the king of the Magicians! The kindly man describes a brief history of this most revered magi. Peter shows him the note, and the man translates. The letter is from Sun Sou Sing, a young boy from Peking, who hopes that whoever finds the kite sends a letter back to him. Unfortunately, the address has been partially lost by Bobby's theft of the tail.
Peter and Nicole run off to find Bobby, and retrieve the tail. Peter tells his friends all about the letter and its amazing adventures. They break up and search for the bully. One of the kids locate Bobby, playing harmonica on a street corner, and soon the whole gang is chasing him.
Bobby is cornered, but refuses to give up the tail; he would rather burn the tail that give it back! Peter makes an uneasy truce with Bobby, who runs off. Peter and the gang are forlorn. Peter retrieves the kite from the antique dealer. Unbeknownst to him, Bobby is watching from the sidelines.
That night, Peter reads magazines, unable to sleep. Peter talks to the kite, asking for its assistance. Peter goes to sleep. The magazines turn their pages by themselves. Peter hears a noise, and wakes up: the kite is coming to life! The tiny magician Sun Wu Kong materializes, and introduces himself with a dance. He grows to normal size. and asks what Peter wants. Peter explains the situation. Sun Wu Kong decides the only thing to do is send Peter to Peking himself!
Nicole wakes up, and asks to go along. She asks the magician to help, and he agrees. Sun Wu Kong casts a spell, and Peter and Nicole are spirited off into the clouds in their very own bed!
Soon, the children land on a cobblestone road, and see a magnificent temple in front of them. Soon, a procession of beautiful women passes by. Peter follows to see what's going on. The parade of colorfully costumed females carrying elaborate lanterns walks up to the gate of the temple. A young boy comes to the temple gate; he is the boy king! He points at Peter, and the palace guards run him off the property!
Later, Peter finds himself lost. Suddenly, Sun Wu Kong appears and tells Peter that he was sent back to ancient China, to see the "elaborate embroidered costumes!". Next, Sun Wu Kong changes Peter's pajamas to street clothes, and gives him a magic marble to help him on his adventures.
Peter searches for little Nicole, and soon finds her playing with a s small Chinese boy in the woods. Peter summons his magic marble, and soon the three are walking along a busy Peking street, enjoying the sights.
Peter helps a young boy gather apples for his produce cart. Other Chinese children join them, but the language barrier proves difficult. Peter explains his problem, but they do not understand. Peter gives them the letter, and then they understand his problem.
One of the children produces a picture of world flags, and Peter points to France. More children join them, but much to Peter's shock, Bobby the bully appears out of nowhere!
Finally, the children lead Peter to Monique, a girl who speaks many languages including English. The group merges as a team, and begins their search for Sum Sou Sing.
The group stumble onto a group of children having a cookout in a hillside, and the hungry searchers decide to stop for lunch. Meanwhile, one of the children stands on a hilltop, sending semaphore signals to all the children of Peking. Soon, the entire town is searching for the owner of the magical kite!
Meanwhile, Peter battles with eating his rice with chopsticks, which he finds baffling, although Nicole picks up the skill with ease. Soon, news comes that Sun Sou Sing has been found, and is approaching!
Peter and the children run off, leaving Nicole behind. When Peter turns to look for her, she has disappeared! Peter walks slowly through the temple, until he is surrounded by guards. The emperor makes his entrance; it is his old enemy, Bobby!
Peter challenges Bobby to one final duel. Bobby produces Nicole, who he holds as his prisoner. In addition, Bobby has stolen Peter's magic marble!
Peter signals to Nicole to get the magic marble away from Bobby, and she does. Peter wishes for a rescue from this predicament, and the marble makes reality change again, so that Bobby and his army vanish, and Peter and Nicole are safe. Peter acknowledges that Nicole has saved his life, and he embraces the child.
Later, we see Peter back in Paris, telling his friends all about his adventures in Peking, as if it were all a dream. Bobby approaches; the gang grab and molest him. They pull a letter from Bobby, who suddenly seems nice. Bobby confesses that he has had a change of heart. He visited the antiques dealer, and has written a letter to the kite's owner, on behalf of the whole gang.
Peter and Bobby shake hands. The kite is brought out. It is decided to let the kite fly free. They mail the letter back to Sun Sou Sing.
Peter finishes revealing his "dream": Peter and Nicole run through the temple grounds, coming out on a great court in which hundreds of Peking children are flying their kites! Peter and Nicole walk through the crowd, enjoying the spectacle. Peter muses, "It would be great if a child had a friend in every country. There are friends all over, not just the ones you happen to meet."
Finally, Peter spots the kite of Sun Wu Kong, and finds his long-lost quest, Sun Sou Sing, flying it. The Chinese boy is thrilled to see his letter returned. Peter and Sun Wu converse, and decide to fly the magic kite one last time, together. Once airborne, they let go of the string. The kite sails off, free at last. It flies over the entire world.
THE END
***
THE MAGIC OF THE KITE is most assuredly an attempt to recreate the atmosphere (and success) of Albert Lamorisse' classic allegorical fantasy, THE RED BALLOON (1956), embellished to feature length. Much of the same territory is covered, literally as well as symbolically. In addition to overt narrative similarity (children in postwar Paris seek to possess airborne toys which trigger spiritual growth), there is the whole notion of a placing a child's psychological journey in a modern urban backdrop. There's also a similarity here to Francois Truffaut’s upcoming THE 400 BLOWS (1959); the restless, oftimes mischievous
wanderings of French child gangs in a vaguely oppressive citified environment.
Truth be told, KITE lacks the effortless lyricism of THE RED BALLOON or the bold frankness of THE 400 BLOWS; it lies somewhere amidst straight narrative and fairy tale, and doesn't achieve ascendancy in any of these areas.
Still, …KITE is a visual and narrative delight. It offers many marvelous scenes of Parisian children in urban settings, doing typical group activities. Likewise, the scenes with Peking children in their natural environment are wonderful. The many neo-realistic sequences set in downtown Paris, and Peking, circa 1958, make …KITE an amazing and dear cultural time capsule. In addition, there is the pleasant, if predictable fantasy element. The story, simplistic to a fault, is fairly engaging.
Of course, there are downsides to a quaint time capsule; the villain of the piece, mean Bobby, comes across as entirely effeminate in his little blue shorts and tight red blouse and ballet-like slippers (obviously acceptable garb of the day). He's hard to take seriously as a bully, probably even to matinee kids of the early 1970's.
As curious as Bobby is as a villain, his breathtakingly sudden change of heart really comes as a shock. We had previously seen Bobby as the evil emblem of hate in Peter's adventure or fantasy or dream, whatever it is. When we next see the bully, he is all hugs and kisses. As we never find out what caused the turnabout, we have no reference point to follow along on his journey of awakening.
The overall melodrama of …KITE might be too dated for a contemporary audience, and Peter is a most curious protagonist. He is good-hearted no doubt, but he also seeks power and enjoys conspiracy. He is a very "real" child in that he has rough edges which make him less than a hero, less than an angel.
Kid sister Nicole is Peter's spiritual shadow; she is brave and adventurous where he is cautious and confused. More than once, Peter finds Nicole ahead of him in some desired activity, and he follows her lead without acknowledging it. Is Nicole just oblivious to danger, or does she know the truth about reality? In other words, does Nicole not know fear, or is she fearless against death?
Lessons learned? The myriad joys of international brotherhood, the efficacy of communication through gathered community, the similarity of child group activity the world over, the sacred spiritual purity of youth, and the advantages, and powers, of a group working in harmony toward an altruistic goal.
Indeed, the film itself is a glorious, too-rare example of distinct cultures working in tandem to create enduring art. A Chinese-French co-production, …KITE is a very rare bird for its genre and time period, a charmingly naive film which is not a masterpiece, but awfully close, and definitely worth a look.
The English-Language version boasts broad dubbing, and a rather lethargic theme song. THE MAGIC OF THE KITE was released to U.S. and Canadian Kiddie Matinees in 1971 by the short-lived Xerox Films of Connecticut, and re-released in 1974 by Paramount in its successful "Family Matinee" series.
Video/DVD availability: VHS (Studio Off-Hollywood Entertainment, 1993, “Specially for kids” series, volume 2, oop)
(1958, France/China) color 82 minutes
Films Cocinor / Films Garance /
Studio de Pekin / Touraine
Story: Roger Pigaut
Screenplay: Roger Piguat, Antoine Tudal, Wang-Kia-Yi
Music: Louis Bessieres, Tuan-Se-Tchung
Cinematography: Henri Alekan
Production Design: Claude Moesching
Produced by Roger Pigaut, Jean Tourane
Directed by Roger Pigaut, Wang-Kia-Yi
(1971) Xerox Films 74 minutes
Series Director: Thomas D. Anglim
Executive Producer: Robert Braverman
Produced by Belluci Productions
Screenplay: Janet Waggener
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Two poster images: the original French one-sheet, and the 1974 Paramount U.S. re-release one-sheet. (At the top of the page is the original Xerox Films 1971 U.S. one-sheet.)
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Peter and Sun Sou Sing finally meet, and fly the magic kite together.
In a terrifying nightmare, Bobby finds himself battling Emperor Bobby and his guards!