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

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.

Pretty great debut from Panahi.

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.

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.

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.

Affecting drama.

Far from being a heart-warming tale, The White Balloon tells of childhood selfishness, greed and desperation, amongst other things. In the film, these traits are shared by all the other (apparently) grown-up adults too: the father who becomes distressed over a bar of soap, the mother who is too busy to help her child, the shady snake charmers who try to steal Razieh's money, and the various shopkeepers and people out and about. All these people are out for themselves. It is perhaps Panahi's (or Kiarostami's) opinion that whilst the girl and her brother's childhood impatience and moody behaviour can be tolerated due to sheer naivety, the fact these traits are still abundant in mature people is to be decried. The only person who possesses none of these failings is the balloon seller, who selfishly helps the girl retrieve her money. In the end he is left thankless.