The White Balloon (1995)

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

The first must-see film of the year.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Snake charmer: "You never take back what you've given! Your money is gone."After seeing Offside (2006), I decided to see more of Jafar Panahi and out of the three films I decided to see, The White Balloon is the first one.The White Balloon takes place on New Year's eve. Seven year old Razieh is sad because she saw beautiful gold fishes in a pet shop but her mother won't let her have any because they have a pond with gold fish already. It is a tradition to have a gold fish for New Year's and after discussing it with her brother, Ali - who is a few years older than Razieh - she manages to convince their mother to give them the money to buy a goldfish in exchange for a balloon that she received. Happy and with a 500 torans note in her fish bowl, Razieh heads out to the pet shop. However, many obstacles and just as many characters will find themselves on her road to the sought out gold fish.This film narrates one of the simplest stories in a sweet way. On many occasions it reminded me of Children of Heaven (1997) - the simple story, the struggles of children and the pervasive themes of money, poverty, the crowded streets of Tehran and of course, all of this centering around a fantastic child actress, Aida Mohammadkhani.It was really heartwarming to see this little child try and convince adults that this money is life and death for her. The way she has to impose herself because adults won't listen to a child is truly moving. Her issues are varied: the multiple attempts she makes to procure the money but also the genuine help she receives from strangers, a notion that is discussed when a soldier argues with her about the notion of what being a "stranger" really is.There are a lot of things that we the viewers are never told, but this didn't concern us, we were too focused on the journey with the 500 torans to care anyway. The movie walks a fine line between the absurd and realism while exploring the edges and angles of social interactions. In no overt way political (unlike the other movies from Panahi can be) it is a very straight forward tale. We are pleasantly reminded that it doesn't take a billion dollar budget to film a good movie.On the other hand, the movie arouses our fears at the outset, without actually fulfilling them. We, as adult viewers, are afraid that Razieh will get hurt or robbed at any moment and when we realize our fears were unfounded it makes us wonder about this misanthropic fear we have of other human beings who we class as "strangers". Maybe we've been fooled too many times and we are wary of the innocence children can have.The movie could have explored more avenues - explore their family, for example, or had music and perhaps more landscape shots - nevertheless, those would all have been decorative. The movie remains at heart as the story it tells, short and poignantly bare.I liked: No unnecessary frills. Razieh is a lovely character. Endearing. Innocence of childhood.I disliked: Maybe some characters were purposely threatening just to provoke a sense of fear in the viewer.78/100 If you've enjoyed Children of Heaven (1997) I would recommend this to you. If you like stories involving child actors this is a must see.Read more reviews at: www.theordinaryreview.blogspot.com

Assuming you're keeping up-to-date with your current affairs, you'll have heard that the great democracy of Iran yesterday jailed director Jafar Panahi for six years, and forbade him from making movies, going abroad, or giving media interviews for the next twenty years. Allegedly, he had been producing a film critical of the Iranian government; that is, he was calling a spade a spade.As a sort of one-man protest, I decided to watch one of Panahi's movies. 'The White Balloon (1995)' was the director's feature debut, and won the Caméra d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It tells an extremely simple tale, almost in real time: a young girl is given a 500-toman banknote to buy a goldfish for the Iranian New Year. On the way to the market, she loses the money down a sewer grate, and spends the rest of the film trying to get it back, either ignored or aided by the strangers she meets.Putting the plot so simply doesn't really suggest a riveting cinematic experience, but I must say I was taken by the effectiveness of the film. We experience the bustling marketplace through the lens of the young girl, and genuinely share her mixed emotions. This really struck a chord with me. When I was a prep (age 5), I got lost during a school excursion, and I can still recall the dropping of my stomach, the quickened breathing, the welling of tears (don't worry, we got icy poles afterwards!). That's the feeling I got here, particularly when the snake charmer stole the girl's money and claimed it as a "donation." I felt as helpless as she did.Fortunately, the film's overriding emotion is one of optimism. Strangers, seeing a child in distress, stop to offer their assistance. A young Afghan balloon-seller proffers a stick and chewing gum with which to retrieve the out-of-reach money. The girl's brother, a resourceful kid of about age ten, arrives on the scene, and suddenly everything seems like it's going to be OK. Sometimes simple films can be the most enjoyable of all.

It was my big sister's turn to pick a film to go to when we were gorging ourselves in what the Reykjavik cinema festival had to offer back in the days. Didn't expect anything but mushy boredom for an hour and a half. Instead of the sentimental torture I had braced myself for, I became spellbound by this beautiful story that totally held me captivated right from the beginning to the end. The little girl, Aida who plays the protagonist, was ever so sincere and true in her role that you forgot you were watching a film, and even I felt a couple of masculine tears running down my cheeks. The White Balloon is simply a gorgeous film and it's out of the blue quirky humor elevates it even further. Even with the wet towel slap in the end, I truly loved the whole of this Persian confect buffet down to it's last bit, ... and still do!

It's been said that dissident Iranian filmmakers will use metaphors, children, other countries, etc to express political/social criticism. With that in mind, I want to ask Iranian viewers to comment on these conclusions.The film is NOT about cute kids. * The girl was told many times that the fish she wanted was NOT bigger than the one she had, but she went after it anyway. * The girl was relentless asking her cash-strapped mother for money for a goldfish, and through annoying persistence got her way.* But the final scene is the one that seared itself in my mind---the boy and girl run away as soon as they have their money, leaving the Hazara boy sitting there alone, not even thanked.So I find the film a cleverly veiled attack on the girl's selfish opportunism and lack of feeling for the people who helped her.If anyone knows Kiarostami or has read any interviews, please enlighten me!!