: http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/ ... lloon.htmlOriginal title: Badkonake sefid
Year: 1995 Country: Iran
Genre: Drama/Family
Director: Jafar Panahi
Cast: Aida Mohammadkhani, Mohsen Kafili, Fereshteh Sadr Orfani, Anna Borkowska
Produced by: Kurosh Mazkouri
Screenplay: Abbas Kiarostami
Cinematography: Farzad Jadat
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Plot summary:
Iranian filmmaker Jafar Pinahi's debut feature The White Balloon tells the story of Razieh (Aida Mohammadkhani), a seven-year-old girl intent on buying a new goldfish in time for Tehran's annual New Year's Day festivities (in Iranian culture, the goldfish is a symbol of life). Upon badgering her mother into giving her a 500-toman banknote, Razieh heads off to the marketplace alone; it is her first real experience away from her parents' watchful eyes, and the excitement and wonder she feels is palpable. Told in real time, the film's sensitive portrayal of Razieh's wide-eyed misadventures superbly conveys the impact which an otherwise unremarkable chain of events can indelibly leave upon the life of a child. Her struggle to prove her independence is dramatically undercut when she loses the banknote not once but twice, but her spirit and ingenuity nevertheless remain indefatigable. -- Jason Ankeny
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Review:
Another small triumph for the Iranian New Wave of the 1990s, The White Balloon is the simple story of a young girl's quest to get from home to the market with her mother's money in order to buy a goldfish. Similar to the 1948 neorealist masterpiece The Bicycle Thief, Balloon achieves a quiet momentum, centering on a specific, obsessive task. Director Jafar Panahi styles his film much like Vittorio De Sica's, achieving universal emotion through a fable-like plot, naturalistic acting and realistic scenes of street life. The beauty, pain, bustle and peace of everyday Iranian life is transmitted through Panahi's simple but convincing manner of storytelling. The film was awarded the Camera d'Or prize for debut feature film at Cannes. -- Brendon Hanley
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The White Balloon
by Michael Price
Michael Price teaches and writes about film in the Boston area.
The White Balloon (1995 Iran 84 mins)
Source: ACMI/NLA Prod Co: Ferdos Prod: Kurosh Mazkouri Dir, Ed, Art Dir: Jafar Panahi Scr: Abbas Kiarostami, based on an idea by Jafar Panahi and Parviz Shahbazi Phot: Farzad Jadat
Cast: Aida Mohammadkhani, Mohsen Kalifi, Fereshteh Sadr Orfani, Anna Borkowska, Mohammad Shahini, Mohammad Bakhtiar
A seven year-old girl, Razieh (played by non-professional Aida Mohammadkhani with adorable courage and a perfect pout) desperately wants a new goldfish for the New Year, despite the fact that her home has a pond that's already full of them. Looking down on the water, all Razieh sees are skinny little fish, but the ones at the store are chubby! At home in the courtyard, her older brother Ali (Mohsen Kalifi) somehow convinces their mother (Fereshteh Sadr Orfani) to let Razieh take the last 500 toman note out of her wallet and into the streets to buy the prized fish. As if in a fable, Razieh loses the bill along the way and the rest of the film consists, simply, of her desperate wanderings as she tries to find the money and buy the fish before the shops close.
The White Balloon shows us the world through Razieh's wide eyes. Critic Adrian Martin describes the adults – as seen by Razieh and her brother, who comes to find her – as “fuzzy, fascinating creatures; they're frightening strangers one moment, tender angels the next.” (1) For instance, a soldier in the street filmed in long shot initially appears devious as he ducks behind a car, but later in medium shot as he sits by Razieh, he's revealed to be a slightly homesick young man eager to speak to someone who reminds him of his sister. In another instance, a shop owner looms over the children huddled over a grate that the money has blown into. Ali's initial dread at this tall, curious figure dissolves when the owner cracks a joke and shoots a smile at Razieh, clearly indicating his intention to help them.
More info on this and other iranian movies can be found here:
http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/ ... lloon.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112445/http://www.film.u-net.com/Movies/Review ... lloon.html
This is only one of several good movies origin from iran/kurdistan with a thematic relating to childhood and how they cope with a hard life.
Edit1: this and some other movies that i plan to post, both "found" ones and some capped and encoded by myself, will be more childhood related, than mere focusing on boys/girls. Hope this is ok...