The White Balloon

The film plays out much like Where Is My Friend's Home?, using a child with a very simple problem to illustrate the interactions of a community. You can't think of a much more stripped-down premise than "little girl wants to buy a goldfish", but Panahi & Kiarostami mine it for plenty of tension, insight and subtle social commentary. This is a terrific movie that does an awful lot with so little, and features some excellent, understated performances.

Tastes strongly like real life and reminds you what it was like to be a child. I really enjoyed watching this movie, though it's very different than mainstream hollywood films.

Far from being a heart-warming tale, The White Balloon tells of childhood selfishness, greed and desperation. These traits are shared by all the so-called adults too. Amidst the everyday hustle and bustle, everyone is out for themselves. Perhaps the children's behaviour can be tolerated due to sheer naivety, but that these traits remain entrenched in wider society is to be decried. In this artful morality play, the only person who transcends these failings is ultimately left thankless.

This is just a nice little film, miking plenty of tension and conflict out of its relatively mild story. The little girl is a great character that problem-solves her way through her little plight and the differing help and indifference from adults, whilst also not holding back on her amusing and empathetic childlike frustration. By the end of the film, the number of character interactions offers some evidence of how this small story could be seen as analogical for a wider geopolitical issue.

The determination and independence of the little girl, Razieh, is highly endearing as she confronts repeated threats to her 500 tomans. The film is a bit slow for the first half - it takes perhaps a bit too long as the viewer to become invested in what you are seeing - but by the second half you are well and truly hooked. The scene with the soldier and the final few minutes with the boy and his white balloon are captivating cinema.

Essentially a parable, told through the simplest of stories serviceable only as a framework for reflections on morality, poverty and self-seeking behaviour. Even its title, while misleading at first, ultimately proves prescient, as the color white is often associated with goodness, innocence and purity of heart. A great film from a great filmmaker.

Jeg var litt skuffet etter å ha sett en rekke andre filmer av Panahi, men det er ikke nødvendigvis noe i vegen med denne. Et ganske streit plott om ei lita jente som skal kjøpe en gullfisk, alt spilt ut i sanntid. Bra dramafilm, men manglet det lille ekstra de andre Panahi-filmene har.

Güzel bir filmdi başka zaman izlesem daha güzel gelirdi ama film izleme anında olmadığım zamanlardandı. Ayrıca diğer Panahi filmlerine nazaran zayıf bir filmken Kiarostami'nin diyalog ve çocuk bilgisi her zaman harika.

This girl runs in the streets of Tehran to find the money to buy her chubby golden fish and every time she speaks, smiles or cries, in a midst of inner silence and urban sounds -- and also radio narration counting minutes and seconds to the new year --, it's possible to feel what's like to be a kid in the big city, where is hard to even have a conversation with someone without feeling tense about it. It's also a beautiful short tale of friendship -- girl, bro, vietnamese carrying the balloon.

Pretty great debut from Panahi.

I am not sure why I so much enjoy watching this cute kid frown through the movie.

Using the simple premise of a little girl who lost her money we get a delightful and entertaining film.The two young siblings and there interactions with the characters who populate this movie was a joy to see.

Maybe not the best starting point for the Iranian new wave.

The film works on two levels: building suspense and dramatic tension in the story of this little girl being pushed around or ignored, but also in taking a hard look at the hierarchies built in to Iranian society and the ways people feel empowered to take advantage of those consigned to a lower strata of the hierarchy. Everyone has high ideals about how they should be treated, but those ideals are put to the test when someone "lower" comes along.

Affecting drama.