'THE WHITE BALLOON' DOES WELL WITH LITTLE GIRL'S FISHY ADVENTURE.

Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Critic

"The White Balloon," a bare-bones Iranian production that won a couple of major prizes at last year's Cannes Film Festival, is something of a tolerance test.

Filmed pretty much in real time on dreary Tehran locations, the movie doesn't have a lot of plot. It does have a very insistent 7-year-old girl (Aida Mohammadkhani), who some will find adorable in her spunky determination and others will have enough of after five minutes.

Mohammadkhani's Razieh wants a new, pretty goldfish in the worst way. It's Iranian New Year's, the first day of spring, and new goldfish are part of the traditional festivities. But rather than scoop one out of her own courtyard pool, Razieh is fixated on a fatter, finnier one she saw in a pet shop.

Though she can't afford it, Razieh's mom is finally whined down and gives the girl her last bank note to go get the fish. Razieh's supposed to head straight to the store and back, and bring home the right change.

Of course, things don't run that smoothly. She loses the money once to a couple of creepy old snake-charmers (in a hypnotic sequence that the rest of the film never manages to match), then again in a storm grating. The last half of the movie is, basically, Razieh bleating at assorted passersby who don't really care about helping her retrieve the bill.

If this sounds unendurable to you, it probably will be. Yet the film is definitely an accomplished piece of minimalist, slice-of-life cinema, and quite charming in its cranky, observant way.

To keep things nice and humanistic, Razieh's frustrating encounters with difficult older strangers often end with the expression of some degree of kindness. And when she dragoons her brother Ali (Mohsen Kalifi) and an Afghan refugee boy into the recovery mission, the universal kid logic they display is as amusing as any in a "Little Rascals" caper.

Director Jafar Panahi clearly loves children for what they are, big mouths and all. Considering restrictions Iran's theocracy places on what filmmakers can and cannot address, it's apparent that Panahi is going for some kind of metaphorical point here (there is a white balloon in the film, but "Goldfish" would've been a more apropos title). The simple story works best, however, interpreted straightforwardly.

Providing, of course, that you can stand that kid.

THE FACTS

The film: "The White Balloon" (not rated).

The stars: Aida Mohammadkhani, Mohsen Kalifi, Fereshteh Sadr Orfani.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Jafar Panahi. Written by Abbas Kiarostami, Parviz Shahbazi and Panahi. Released by October Films.

Running time: One hour, 25 minutes.

Playing: Music Hall, Beverly Hills.

Our rating: Three Stars.

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PHOTO

Photo Aida Mohammadkhani portrays a little girl whose desire for a pretty goldfish leads her on a daylong adventure through the streets of Tehran in Iranian director Jafar Panahi's "The White Balloon."