THE WHITE BALLOON

.................................
by Jafar Panahi and Parviz Shahbazi
.................................



This is so very special !!
This is definitely cinema..
Plz don't call it cerebral..
or Iranian.film.. ...
It's about an expanding universe.
Its about time and space..and us.
It's about inevitable exploration humanity makes
It's about PEACE.
....so it's a Heart Thing !!
Coz
2 Xpand The Circle.
You have to have that all necessary "SPLASH".
In the precious pot of yours.
THE BIG BANG !!!!
Imagine the splash
in lil girl Razia's heart.
At the desire of a fat bridely gold fish..




&
POP!!!
Open's an Universe ..
and the film begins
The real market..
Which is so different.
When perceived from the home .
That's the dilemma of being cerebral...
Clarity (white Balloon) ...
The lil Afghan seller achieved
is untouched by all the market buzzers
even the veteran soldier of war.
So Why ???
What is so special about him ????
That makes him retrieve the 500 tommahs (bucks)
for the lil girl which all others could not??
It's perhaps his precocious perspicacity.
That can only come from
the innocence of a
wandering
young
brave heart .
Rhazia's brother,the lot in the market or even the soldier could not come to the girls rescue.For it seems they are confined to their circles.
But not this BOY.
He is a different breed .
This guy can zoom in,
narrow down the circle
& focus
on the problem .
win the lil war
for the lil Rhazia
Then Zoom out
Xpand like any thing in sync with time and space.
As the new year begins
& crisis ends.
Now lets play this game of circle which PANAHI plays with such aplomb.
I promise it will be such fun.
.........................
RINGA RINGA ...
..........................

(1)Small circle
the fish tank in the house with skinny goldfishes
mother & the gal
Gal and the brother
Big fat gold fish in the market
(2)Big circle
The unseen father who makes his presence felt through mere diktats and scolding
(3)
Bigger circle
The market
Smaller circle with in the big circle
The Tailor
The snake charmer,
The soldier

(4)Huge circle
The Earth making rounds

(5)The expanding and shrinking circle
The Afghan boy selling balloons .


............................................
Panahi zooms in and zooms out from the start of his 80 min + something film.He is searching,grappling and thus confused & helpless.Like Razia (with a cute pout)who losses her 500 tommah twice in the frenzy of the market.Where circles of various universe make infinite intersections.Adding to the confusion.All circles big or small are so rigid that they add to the problem.
Except for 1.
The Afghan teen.
The balloon seller.
The hero emerges
and clenches the issue
for the little girl ,
for Panahi,
for Iran ,
for the world.
The frame freezes with the Afghan boy to end.
As time moves forward in a circle.
That is beyond us to change.
.............................
THE GAME PLAY
.............................
This is not cerebral guys don't be put off by such things people tell you.Do please see this stuff.COZ it says something really important.
Panahi don't have the luxury of freedom.Iran is a closed rigid society.With so many forbidden issues.So he has to device the film such .It's a game of circles he plays to avoid the wrath of society.
In fact he believes that there are no evil characters.
Speaking against Evil with out believing in it's presence is an unbeatable idea
VERY !!VERY !!RADICAL !!!
Renders the devil impotent in the first stroke.

Its all about circle we live in.
He argues instead.
So he brings in the problem
through the desire of a little girl
and
solves
with the lil Afghan.
Such a sweet !! sweet !! stuff.
Even the DEVIL Can't oppose.

Intellect is not the sole answer.
May be the so called cerebral (what ever it might be)
are but a part of the problem.
Iran is typical example of it or for that matter the world at large.
Iranian society is an intellectual construct (a rigid circle)
in clash with another concoction , The western ideology .
Which is again a stiff rigid circle.
Panahi captures this crisis in Iranian society at bazar scene.
YUP it can be about
Women liberation
Iranian society
or
The humanity.
The answer lies in the essence of the Afghan teen with lucid visions.
Definitely there can be a solution to the current division.
Created by the so called play of cerebral intellect.
The passion to
Xplore Possibilities
Problem Solving
&
2 do Good
comes not merely from intellect
but
from the "SPLASH".
And the answer is
the white balloon.
PEACE
As the planets makes a way to another circle.
The only circle that cant be changed.



.PEACE.

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SO HURRY UP WORLD !!!
Give the Afghan teen a chance.
Before it's too late.
..........................................................................
In response to my Lil Bro