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The White Balloon

The White Balloon

1995
Drama, Family/Kids
1h 25m
Several people try to take advantage of a little girl's innocence to hustle money her mom gave to her to buy a goldfish with. (imdb)
Your probable score
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The White Balloon

1995
Drama, Family/Kids
1h 25m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 66.4% from 384 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(384)
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Rated 14 Aug 2007
78
64th
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.
Rated 08 Sep 2008
90
89th
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.
Rated 06 Sep 2010
84
81st
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.
Rated 20 Apr 2016
83
73rd
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.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
78
89th
Affecting drama.
Rated 20 Oct 2007
89
87th
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.
Rated 21 Dec 2007
50
26th
Maybe not the best starting point for the Iranian new wave.
Rated 21 Apr 2011
72
57th
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.
Rated 12 Feb 2012
73
89th
I am not sure why I so much enjoy watching this cute kid frown through the movie.
Rated 04 Jan 2013
75
84th
Pretty great debut from Panahi.
Rated 12 May 2013
72
75th
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.
Rated 27 Aug 2013
87
66th
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.
Rated 18 Sep 2014
70
46th
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.
Rated 15 Sep 2019
8
78th
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.
Rated 10 May 2020
75
82nd
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.

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