"Children of Heaven" *** 1\2 (out of ****)Though I'm not a big fan of movies centered around children there is something fascinating to see how young minds interpret the world. Their innocence and lack of understand about how life works protects them. To a child the slightest problem can signal the end of days.
Francois Truffaut made several films surrounding around children such as his masterpiece "400 Blows", "Such A Gorgeous Kid Like Me" and "Small Change". Truffaut showed us the simplicity of a child's life mixed sometimes with the hardships they face of being expected to grow up too fast.
Majid Majidi's "Children of Heaven" is similar. Nominated for an Academy Award back in 1999, the film is one of Mr. Majidi's most popular works in America.
Recently in my review for "Offside", another movie from Iran, I said that nearly every film I see from the region deals with a woman's place in society. "Children of Heaven" is an exception.
The film revolves around a brother and sister. Ali (Amir Farrokh Hashemian) is sent to pick up Zahra's (Bahare Seddiqi) shoes, which had broken soles. On his way home he stops off at a market where someone accidentally takes the shoes. Now Ali must confront his sister and tell her what has happened. The first thing Zahra wants to know is how will she be able to go to school without any shoes? Children are always looking for a way to skip school.
Most would say the logical answer to this problem would be just tell the parents the shoes were stolen and buy new ones. Ah, but you are thinking like an adult. To a child what is more scary to being yelled at by your parents for doing something wrong? When you were growing up did you tell your parents when you did something wrong?
Ali tells Zahra they must keep this a secret. Their father, (Mohammad Amir Naji) is poor and cannot afford to buy new shoes. He is behind on his rent and owes various people money. Ali has an idea though. Why don't he and Zahra share the shoes. Zahra could wear them when she goes to class and hurry home to give them to Ali. Of course, what would happen if they both had classes at the same time? There probably would be no movie. Meanwhile Ali will try to find his sister's shoes.
I could imagine to most readers this sounds like a boring story. How good could a movie be about lost shoes? I understand. I get the same reaction when I tell people what my favorite movie, "The Bicycle Thief" is about. What people fail to realize is these movies are about more than shoes and bicycles. These stories transcend that.
"Children of Heaven" has effective performances across the board. The children have a natural screen presence and are able to make us relate to them. Don't think just because the film is about children therefore it is only to be watched by children. We also see a bond between the brother and sister which I normally don't find in American movies. Ali seems to love his sister. The film more than anything is about the bond of a family. We sense how close this family is.
Others not familiar with Iranian cinema or Iranian culture will find themselves reading into the movie looking for a glimpse into how they live. What is life really like there? This film was made before the Iraq war. Nothing about the film is political. There is no anti-American sentiment. Anyone looking for that is advise to look elsewhere.
"Children of Heaven", despite how corny it may sound, is one of those feel good movies which tries to tell us there is hope in the world as long as we do the right thing. That is not an original message but not a bad one to hear from time to time.
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