Excellent Perspective on God

Rating: 8/10 (11 February 2007)

Children of Heaven is an extremely symbolic movie. The exact purpose of the movie is not exactly clear until the final shot of Ali's battered feet in a sweet pond of innocent fish. It is not until then that the tenderness and irony in the movie regarding God come clear.
During the entire movie, the parents come off as having the typical "if God wills it, it will happen" attitude that really means "I'm too lazy to do anything about my pathetic life", at least in this case. Ali and Zahra are two young kids who physically and mentally drain themselves over a pair of shoes they've lost, and it's ridiculous they even have to worry about that. It's not ridiculous because I'm just a spoiled American lucky enough to never have worried about it, it's ridiculous because their parents wait until the rent is far past overdue to try to do anything about it. It isn't until then that the father finally goes into town to make ends meet. However this amazing father is sure not to do it alone, he has to bring is child along too.
The parents, or at least the father, is no doubt a loser, but the children are quite the opposite. There's something wrong if your 9-year-old son is better with talking to a person than you are, and in the case of going into town to get money, this is how it is. Ali certainly wins your heart over every time you see his little face getting teary-eyed because all he wants to do is win his sisters shoes back. You can clearly see that although he believes in God, he pours his heart out into that final race just to right his wrong. However, because if God wants it to happen a certain way, it will happen that way, he didn't get those shoes in that race that second, but he did get them.
Some may view the Dad getting shoes for the little girl in the final scene as a sign that it really is in God's control. However, I believe that it is indeed in God's control; however the extent of how fast the needy are willing to try is the key. God helps those who help themselves. Although it seemed like a long time, Ali's wish got answered fast in comparison to Ali's father's wish of God helping them out of their rough time. It should also be noted that it wasn't until after Ali's father went into town to really help his family out that God helped the man. It is indeed in God's hands, however that is no excuse to sit back and do nothing when things aren't going the way you want. The display of this belief makes the movie truly respectable.