The White Balloon
aka Badkonake sefid First screened in May 2015 / Most recently screened and reviewed in October 2025
Director: Jafar Panahi. Cast: Aida Mohammadkhani, Mohsen Kafili, Aliasghar Smadi, Fereshteh Sadre Orafaiy, Hamidreza Tahery, Bosnali Bahary, Hasan Neamatolahi, Asghar Barzegar, Mohammad Zolfaghary, Anna Borkowska, Mohammed Bakhtiar, Shaker Hayely, Mohammadreza Baryar, Mohammad Shahani, Hosain Kazemy, Homayoon Rokani. Screenplay: Abbas Kiarostami (based on an idea by Jafar Panahi and Parviz Shahbazi). Twitter Capsule:
Simple, tender storytelling reveals careful facets. Like the goldfish, it dances while seeming to stay in place.
VOR:④
Arrival of major filmmaker. Iranian art cinema minus fussy meta-levels; accessible with plenty of layers and depth. A breakthrough abroad.
All Hollywood has cared about for at least 15 years is remaking existing IP. So why in the world didn't we get a U.S. remake of The White Balloon at Christmas 2013 starring Quvenzhané Wallis? WHY?? Instead we got Anchorman 2 and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. I hope you're happy.
Anyway, The White Balloon is a miraculous film about a child that could and should be shown to and discussed with any children anywhere who are the age of its protagonists, 7 and 9. My hope is that many if not most of them would enjoy it, though they'd have questions about that unexpected ending, which in its quiet but potent way is sort of like, well, the sting of a scorpion's tail, or an unexpected snake slinking out of a deceptively humble box.
The White Balloon is also a miraculous film for adults that could and should be shown to and discussed with people anywhere who are the ages of the mother, the Dervish, the tailor, the soldier, or the pet shop proprietor. My hope is that many if not most of them would enjoy it, though they'd have questions about that unexpected ending, because I'm not convinced any of us are that much smarter than 7-year-old Razieh. Or that we use the smarts we have any better than 9-year-old Ali uses his, never giving up on new stratagems for extracting that 500-toman note, even when everyone else accepts defeat quickly.
You can insist the ending and the title are ambiguous if you want, but are they, really? Aren't they pretty blatant? Doesn't it require over-complicating the movie to not hear exactly what the final shot is saying to us? All of us?
The White Balloon is a beautifully proportioned and exquisitely orchestrated kid's-eye movie that seems spare in story and almost offhandedly photographed. But it contains vastness, and multitudes. It might appear skinny if you look at it from the wrong angle, but if you change your angle of vision even slightly, it's hardy and plump. And it's dancing. Grade:A–
Awards:
Cannes Film Festival: Caméra d'or (Best First Film)
New York Film Critics Circle: Best Foreign Language Film
