innocence of childhood feelings...

Rating: 9/10 (2 April 2007)

Children of Heaven is a 1997 made Iranian film that is directed by the famous director Majid Majidi. Later on, it was also nominated for academy awards. As most of the Iranian films, Children of Heaven mainly deals with the ordinary people's extraordinary feelings in a philosophical and psychological manner. The "child" figure is also an indispensible part of Iranian cinema and I think it is because of their innocence and purity of thoughts.
Children of Heaven seems to deal with a brother, a sister and their life in Iran but it has more in it. A number of political, ideological, psychological themes are dealt with in this film. Ethical values and their practical application are also referred in the film.
In the film, Ali takes Zahra's shoes to the shoemaker to get them repaired. But something unlucky happens and when he is on the way back home, he loses his sister's shoes. They decide to keep the event as a secret for some time as their father has no money to buy a new pair of shoes and as they know that they will be punished for this. They make a plan and they decide to share Ali's sneakers. Zahra wear them in the morning and they change the shoes for Ali's afternoon classes. This goes on for days with different adventures on the way home and on the way to school. One day, Ali hears about a running competition and decides to participate because, the third place award is a pair of shoes. However Ali comes the first in the race and wins the first place prize instead of a pair of new shoes. BEAUTY AND INNOCENCE When we carefully observe the characters in the film we can easily realize the purity of feelings in the film. Innocence and passion for life goes hand in hand during the whole film. When Ali loses his sister's shoes, he doesn't lose his hope and promises to find her the shoes. This is, in a way, a cultural reflection of Iran and Islam. Not to give up and not to lose your hope... Likewise, when Zahra learns that her only pair of shoes are lost, she gets very unhappy but she never betrays her brother. We can see the honesty, and loyalty in such behaviors as well. Obedience is another cultural theme in the film and it is frequently emphasized. For instance, when the mother asks Zahra to help with the housework we can see how obedient Zahra is. Moreover, when the students are in the morning ceremony, they say "obedience to our leader" all together and reflect the importance of obedience in this culture. Unlike most of the western countries, "sharing" is another important aspect of Iranian culture. The sibblings share their shoes while going to school, share their sadness while crying, share their father's poverty by not informing his about the lost shoes. In short, they share nearly every possible thing as if it is a must to be completed.
The role of woman in Iran is clearly illustrated in the Children of Heaven. She is always in a secondary position in the society and all her acts are dominated by man. Man is the chief in the family and in the society. Woman, on the other hand, has the right to obey... This causes her a hard challenge because of her gender and in such a culture she cannot even struggle against it. On the other hand, socio-economic class causes another big challenge for poor people. In the film, Ali and his father looks for work as gardeners and they go to the city together. Cycling through the city, it is very striking that there is a clear division between rich and poor. We are watching a boy, to afraid to tell his father of the loss of a pair of shoes, riding through streets with billboards advertising cell phones, into rural areas where houses with swimming pools, ornate architecture and luxury are rife. Such a huge difference also exist in the lives of people on different sides of the city. While Ali cries for a pair of old, lost shoes, the rich child in the city house owns everything a child should have. Another example to socio-economic classification is the attitude of the salesman in the bazaar. Ali wants to buy some potatoes but he only lets Ali to buy some from the small, half-rotten, old potatoes.
All those attitudes of people towards other people or culture towards people causes some psychological situations inevitably. The women in the society are ignored and suppressed. They most of the time, seem to be unhappy but have no chance apart from contenting themselves with what they have. They behave with fear and hesitation. The children, on the other hand, are also ignored because of the poverty and they also have to be content with what they have. When Ali wins the race, he is still not happy, because he doesn't have a new pair of shoes for her sister. This shows us that even the smiles of those innocent poor children are controlled by outside effects like poverty and culture.
To sum up, we can, at a glance, detect a variety of emotions and behaviors under the influence of the existing culture in this film. Children of Heaven is a successful mirror not only to the Iranian culture but also to the hearts of human beings...