O Balão Branco

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'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!!

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!

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.

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.