| Photos (see all 6 | slideshow) |
| 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 | |
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| Little Miss Sunshine | The Good Earth | The Loss of Sexual Innocence | Walkabout | Gone with the Wind |
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| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| IMDb Drama section | IMDb Iran section | Add this title to MyMovies |
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.