Children of Heaven

Rating: 8/10 (15 February 2007)

Children of Heaven The main focus of this movie was on the children. The setting you see is what you would see as the child. (From a child's level) The adults are seen in the background, but have little to do with the action going on in the movie itself. Even when Ali is running through the alleys trying to hurry and get to school the camera is still at his level showing what he sees. The pace of the shots also depends completely on what the kids are doing. This movie does a great job of showing how a kid in this area lives.
I like how the film shows how close Ali and Zahra are. He feels terrible about losing her shoes and is determined to get her a new pair when he knows he'll never find her old ones. Zahra tries to threaten Ali by saying she is going to tell mom or dad, but he promises if she just gives him a little more time he will work it out. He allows her to borrow his shoes for school and meet him in the alley go exchange so he can make it to school. He is late multiple times because of the exchange, but still won't tell his parents he lost her shoes. He becomes determined to get into the race to win her a new pair of shoes that he cries and begs his teacher to let him try out even though it's past the try out date. He promises him he will win, but he doesn't mention he only wants to win third place. The whole movie revolves around the guilt Ali feels for losing the shoes and his determination to get her some new ones.