Le ballon blanc

This movie, as has been said before, enters the world of children. But it does it with such a lack of full credit for grace and feeling. It never belittles children - in fact, it makes adults look like the buffoons they are. You feel for every victory and defeat they have and get engrossed in their plots and problems. The encounters with common Iranians is also wonderful, especially the soldier at the end. Perhaps the most natural example of child acting is shown through Rezayeh - I am surprised she was never nominated for anything in this film. Her other films are also great, but nothing matches "The White Balloon" Not to be missed - one of the best Iranian films of all time, without question.

Jafar Panahi was born in 1960. He was the assistent and pupil of Abbas Kiarostami (born 1940). His films are less philosophical but more like Neo Realism Iranian style. As a neo realist he sides with the underdog and this has brought him into conflict with the regime a number of times. In the summer of 2022 he was arrested in order to serve a 2010 sentence

"The white balloon" is situated just before Nowruz. Nowruz is the Iranian new year. It takes place around 21 March, and so it is a real welcoming of Spring and the beginning of the circle of live. It is a much bigger deal than new years day in the Western world. All families come together and in Iran that often entails a lot of travelling. So the preparation for Nowruz can be a rushed and stressful time and during this time not everybody has time for a little girl that has lost her banknote.

Panahi tells this everyday story from the point of view of the little girl.

Many of the worries of the grown ups turn out to be much more childish than the worries of the little girl.

Nowruz turns out to be a holiday to pay more attention to the members of your family, but certainly not automatically also to your fellow citizens.

In this respect the film resembles the message of "The wind will carry us" (1999) from his mentor Abbas Kiarostami. In this film a TV crew is in a small village to document traditional funeral rituals and is so focused on this aspect of life that the rest of the social interaction with the villagers is highly neglected.

I had the pleasure of watching this movie last year. I have recommended it to countless others since. There is something about this movie that stays with you and is absolutely unforgettable. I can't quite put my finger on it. The pace is slow and purposeful. The little girl and her brother are adorable. The minor characters are fantastic, including the tailor and the difficult customer. I found myself laughing out loud several times during the movie, The themes are universal. It was very easy to forget it took place in a different country in another language. It is all familiar and at the same time, revolutionary. I can watch this over and over. It may be a perfect film.

Abbas Kiarostami wrote this film, which is very much like his 1987 masterpiece, Where Is the Friend's Home? That film had a young boy trying to give back some other boy's homework that he accidentally took home. This one has a little girl having all kinds of problems trying to buy a goldfish on New Year's Eve. Each of these children have to navigate their way through a world of adults in a culture where the young are to be seen, but not heard. The earlier film is quite a bit better than The White Balloon, but this is a wonderful film in its own right. It has a wonderful set piece where a street performer thinks that the girl is donating the money she has for her goldfish to a snake charmer. She has to work up the courage to speak up for herself, and then to take the money when it has been wrapped around a snake. My only real problem with the film was the lead performance, by Aida Mohammadkhani. She has really nice facial expressions, but her voice and line delivery are monotonous; truth be told, she gets kind of obnoxious after a while. Mohsen Kalifi, who plays her older brother, is wonderful, on the other hand. I really liked the way the sibling relationship was developed. Kiarostami, genius that he is, adds some small details that give the film a much deeper resonance than one might find at first glance (I'd almost call this a trademark of his). The sequence with the titular balloon, along with the haunting final shot, is the kind of thing that could make this film last forever inside of me.

I recently viewed this movie on Bravo TV and was absolutely spellbound. At first, the Farsi language threw me, but it was delightful after awhile in a melodic sort of way. Plus, the lead character is adorable. Her traumatic experience in buying the goldfish is heartrending and at the same time is enlightening. You will want to turn away for fear that she will not succeed and yet you watch because you know that she will. The movie also helps you to regain a faith in the common goodness of the human race.