THE BALLOON MAN

For Andrew Adamson, it was a real balancing act
For 'Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away,' he sought to combine the awe of the acrobatic feats with the beauty of a love story.

 

Erica Linz plays Mia and Benedikt Negro plays Le Vieux in "Cirque du Soleil Worlds Away."
(Paramount Pictures, Mark Fellman / November 16, 2010)
from:  latimes.com
By Oliver Gettell
December 19, 2012
Andrew Adamson is no stranger to fantasy worlds. In his previous films, the New Zealand-born writer-director brought an ill-tempered green ogre to life ("Shrek" and "Shrek 2") and ventured into C.S. Lewis' parallel universe of Narnia, a land occupied by talking animals, magical creatures and an evil witch (the first two "The Chronicles of Narnia" movies).

Adamson returns to the realm of the fantastic with "Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away," opening Friday, a film that captures eye-popping acts from seven of the troupe's Las Vegas live shows in vivid 3-D and weaves them together with a simple, fairy-tale-like romance.

For Adamson, the appeal of the circus is simple and elemental. "It's a combination of beauty and danger," he said on the phone from Auckland. "It's kind of like combining ballet and motor racing: You get adrenaline, and you're watching something beautiful at the same time."
read more here:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-1220-cirque-20121220,0,6314296.story