Badkonake sefid (1995)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Jafar Panahi

Writers:

Abbas Kiarostami (writer)
Jafar Panahi (original idea)
(more)

Release Date:

27 November 1995 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama | Family

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Money | Fish | Goldfish | Little Girl | Iranian

Awards:

5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Aida Mohammadkhani	...	Razieh
Mohsen Kafili	...	Ali
Fereshteh Sadre Orafaiy	...	Mother
Anna Borkowska	...	Old Lady
Mohammad Shahani	...	Soldier
Mohammed Bakhtiar	...	Tailor
Aliasghar Smadi	...	Balloon Seller
Hamidreza Tahery	...	Reza
Asghar Barzegar	...	Pet Shop Manager
Hasan Neamatolahi	...	Snake Charmer
Bosnali Bahary	...	Snake Charmer
Mohammadreza Baryar	...	Client in Tailor's Shop
Shaker Hayely	...	Tailor's Assistant
Homayoon Rokani	...	Street Singer / Dancer
Mohammad Farakani	...	Shop Keeper
Hosain Kazemy	...	Shop Owner
Mohammad Zolfaghary	...	Pet Shop Assistant

Directed by
Jafar Panahi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Abbas Kiarostami		writer
Jafar Panahi		original idea
Parviz Shahbazi		original idea

Produced by
Kurosh Mazkouri	....	producer
Foad Nour	....	co-executive producer

Cinematography by
Farzad Jadat

Film Editing by
Jafar Panahi

Production Design by
Jafar Panahi

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Behrouz Hamed Saberi	....	assistant director
Parviz Shahbazi	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Said Ahmadi	....	sound
Mehdi Dejbodi	....	sound
Mojtaba Mortazavi	....	sound

Special Effects by
Manocher Sabet-Ghdam	....	special effects

Production Companies

• Ferdos Films

Distributors

• Civite Films (Spain)
• Divisa Home Video (2004-2009) (Spain) (DVD)
• IFA (Argentina)
• Kidmark, a Division of Trimark Entertainment (video)
• October Films (1996) (USA) (subtitled)
• United Films (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)

Also Known As:

The White Balloon (USA)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

Iran

Language:

Persian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Philippines:PG-13 | South Korea:All | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:Unrated | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Tehran, Iran

Company:

Ferdos Films

Trivia:

The film unfolds in real time.

Excellent

Abbas Kiarostami wrote this film, which is very much like his 1987 masterpiece, Where Is the Friend's Home? That film had a young boy trying to give back some other boy's homework that he accidentally took home. This one has a little girl having all kinds of problems trying to buy a goldfish on New Year's Eve. Each of these children have to navigate their way through a world of adults in a culture where the young are to be seen, but not heard. The earlier film is quite a bit better than The White Balloon, but this is a wonderful film in its own right. It has a wonderful set piece where a street performer thinks that the girl is donating the money she has for her goldfish to a snake charmer. She has to work up the courage to speak up for herself, and then to take the money when it has been wrapped around a snake. My only real problem with the film was the lead performance, by Aida Mohammadkhani. She has really nice facial expressions, but her voice and line delivery are monotonous; truth be told, she gets kind of obnoxious after a while. Mohsen Kalifi, who plays her older brother, is wonderful, on the other hand. I really liked the way the sibling relationship was developed. Kiarostami, genius that he is, adds some small details that give the film a much deeper resonance than one might find at first glance (I'd almost call this a trademark of his). The sequence with the titular balloon, along with the haunting final shot, is the kind of thing that could make this film last forever inside of me.