This Iranian film was one I found listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, it was selected as an entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars, but was not accepted as a nominee, I hoped it would be worthwhile. Basically in Teheran, it is the eve of the Iranian New Year, seven-year-old Razieh (Aida Mohammadkhani) has seen a goldfish in a shop and begins nagging her hurrying Mother (Fereshteh Sadr Orfani) to buy it for the festivities instead of the skinny ones in her family's pond at home. On their way home, the mother and daughter pass a crowd of men gathered to watch two snake charmers, Razieh wants to see what is happening, but her mother pulls her away. Back home, Razieh is upset her mother is refusing to let her a new goldfish but continues her campaign of nagging. Her older brother Ali (Mohsen Kalifi) returns from a shopping errand for their father, he is unseen, but his presence causes tension in the family, he complains that we asked for shampoo, not soap. When Ali returns with the shampoo, Razieh enlists his help in changing her mother's mind about the goldfish, bribing him with a balloon, insisting she can buy it for 100 tomans. Razieh finally gets her wish, her mother gives her the family's last 500-toman banknote and asks her to bring back the change, she sets off with an empty glass jar to the fish shop a few blocks away. On the way, Razieh stops to watch the snake charmers, one of them takes the banknote from her to wrap around a snake, tempting her to grab it back, but they eventually give it back to her, seeing that she is getting upset. Then while running to the shop, she stops outside a cake shop for a moment, she reaches the shop selling goldfish, but then she realises she has lost her money. An Old Woman (Anna Bourkowska) takes pity on Razieh and helps her to retrace her steps and find the banknote, it is found in a grate that leads to the basement of a shop. After the old woman leaves, the money has fallen into the grate and the basement of the shop, which is closed for the New Year celebration. Ali comes along, as his sister has been gone for some time, together they try to find a way to retrieve the money and receive help from many people, including the Tailor shop owner (Mohammad Bakhtiari) next door and an Iranian soldier (Mohammad Shahani). The money is just out of reach, but the fish shop owner promises he will try not to sell the fat white and orange goldfish until the little girl returns. Finally, the siblings receive help from a young Afghan street vendor (Aliasghar Samadi) selling balloons, he carries his balloons on a wooden stick, he has a white one left. The group attach a piece of chewing gum to the end of his stick, and with it, reach down into the basement through the grate and pull the money out. In the end, Ali and Razieh run off to buy the goldfish, leaving the balloon seller sitting alone on the grate, the siblings pass him and are happy to finally have the fish, and the change, and the boy walks away with his white balloon. Also starring Hamidreza Tahery as Reza and Asghar Barzegar as the Pet Shop Manager. It is a very simple story, a journey of discovery for a little girl desperate to buy a goldfish, and her desperate attempts to get the money back to buy it, Mohammadkhani is cute, and her insights make the ordinary seem miraculous, it is slow and annoying in parts, but overall it is a delightful drama. Good!
Review of The White Balloon
