These two films share a similar sensibility in their approach to childhood. Narratives about childhood, whether by Marcel Proust or by the two directors of The Approach of Autumn and The White Balloon, test us as adults.Memories of childhood are rich and we relate to the world of children with, if you will, a suspension of adultness. Or rather we shift perspectives more readily than when our protagonists are adults only.

Both films deal with the vulnerability that is possibly childhood's core; the need for children to find care and love. Both films end on a similar note, a sad note, a sense that the children have been betrayed by the selfish and apathetic world created by adults.