Zahra's Shoes

Rating: 10/10 (12 February 2007)

Children of Heaven is a movie that strays away from the fast paced, action packed thriller that most Americans, like me, are familiar with. The editing and framing are done in compliance with Iranian rules about propriety. Men are never shot in the same scene with women that they are not married to or have a family orientation with, but children, as it is allowed by Iranian standards, are shown in any context with each other and any other adult. The pace of the movie is significantly slowed down from the Western motion picture custom and the scenes, as well as the people, are all real. This is to say, that there are no professional actors in the majority of the movie and the scenes are that of real Iranian cities, schools, and homes; there are no sets. The literary elements of the film are dealt with at a unique angle as well. The plot is based on the folly of Ali as it relates to his sister's cherished shoes, a ratty pair of children's shoes, and the pursuit, after they have been lost, of returning those shoes to Zahra: Ali's sister. The development of the story is slow but charming, in my opinion, as the journey to the regain the shoes is drawn out over the entirety of the film but treated with specificity while using allegory to point out struggles between traditional and modern day Iran in relation to the government of Iran and its impinges on the citizens therein. The characters and conflict are uncomplicated and delightful, seeing that they are simply about common people dealing with common problems.
The real impact of the film is shown in how these common people care for these common blunders that any of us are likely to make; dealing in courageous ways and in observance with honorable means to meet the objectives that each has set forth to accomplish. The social commentary is invisible to the untrained eye, but no less exists clearly within the context of the film to show how each sect of the Iranian society experiences the pleasures and obstacles that are present in modern Iranian life. One such example of this social commentary exists within the relationship of the school principal (symbolizing the government of Iran), Ali's teacher (symbolizing the educated middle class), and Ali himself (symbolizing the lower, working class citizens of Iran). Also, the use of water throughout the movie symbolizes the will of God and is done so with loving consideration, best represented at the end of the movie that closes with Ali's blistered feet resting in a pond (symbolizing that submission to God's will is the best place for anyone and their concern to be).
I really enjoyed this film after I understood the context of which the story took place and of what purpose it set out to achieve. Children of Heaven gave me great insight into a society of which I was previously unfamiliar with. I highly recommend the film to anyone who wants to know more about Middle Eastern cultures, especially Iran. In the end, the film points out, rather nicely, the importance of an honorable journey to a principled end while explicating that coming in first, or having the most, are not the most essential pursuits in life. Children of Heaven is a charming story with a profound message that many of us fail to recognize and sometimes all it takes is a simple story about a simple pair of shoes to bring us back.