Genre: Drama
Director: Majid Majidi
Plot: After a young boy loses his sister's shoes, he attempts to keep it a secret from his parents by sharing his own shoes with her until he can find her a new pair.
The gist: This was Iran's official entry for Best Foreign Film at the 1998 Oscars, where it lost to Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful. I haven't seen Benigni's film yet, but I must say this Iranian movie is certainly worthy of winning that award.
Children Of Heaven is solid and undeniable proof that one does not require a great plot or a huge budget to make an incredible film. Majid Majidi's film is as simple as it can be, but it's brilliant and captivating from start to finish. I was sucked it within the first five minutes as I watched Ali, a poor 9 year old boy lose his younger sister's shoes while buying potatoes from a grocer.
Ali and his sister Zahra then hatch a plan: share his shoes. She wears them to school in the morning, then she will quickly return them to him so he can use them for his classes in the afternoon. The plan doesn't work that well because no matter how fast he runs, he always arrives late and gets in trouble with the principal. Then an opportunity comes along when his school announces a long distance race where the third prize winner gets a pair of shoes. Can Ali win the shoes for Zahra?
The film is just lovely as it explores the life of poor Iranians in Tehran without going into melodrama. Ali and Zahra's family are obviously poor, judging from their inability to pay the rent and other monetary hurdles, but Majidi doesn't dwell on these, instead focusing on how the siblings live their everyday lives despite their hardship, and even when times are tough, they are essentially happy, with only the missing shoes being a problem.
Even though the race part of the plot only comes at the final third of the film, Majidi makes every second of his film count. From Ali assisting his father to find people to hire them for gardening, to him and Zahra spending time in school learning, to the two siblings having fun blowing bubbles...it's all splendidly executed and never feels out of place.
The good: Amir Farrokh Hashemian and Bahare Seddiqi (as Ali and Zahra respectively) are so young at the time they made the film, but they're both excellent and put a smile on my face nearly every time they're on screen. The simplistic plot, perfect execution and fine acting all around make this a crowd pleaser for sure.
The bad: Little things, like wardrobe (strange how Ali and Zahra wear the same clothes all the time. I know they're poor, but not that poor) and the slightly abrupt ending. But it is far from enough to ruin what is already a great film.
Verdict: This is by far one of the best films I've ever seen, period. Anyone of any age can appreciate this wonderful tale. Highly recommended. (4.5/5)
