Not so common social criticism

Rating: 10/10 (12 February 2007)

Before I ever set eyes on Children of Heaven I was told that it was an Iranian film that contained a clandestine layer of social criticism. While I watched I searched all over for signs that could help reveal this to me. Hidden symbolism of a corrupt and immoral power, purposeful ignorance, even Michael Moore. I could find none of these things. Now I knew it would be difficult considering that the movie was made to pass the conservative censoring that was in place to prevent such criticism from being displayed. I was beginning to think that all the talk of criticism was fabricated by imaginative literature teachers and film critics to make the movie more interesting. After reading others reviews of the movie on the Internet I found that I was not the only one who had difficulty in finding any hidden agenda in the movie. While this made me feel slightly better I knew I had to keep trying to find this movie beneath the movie.
It came to me after a second screening of the movie, the title itself is a glaring sarcastic criticism of Iran. Calling Ali and Zhara the Children of Heaven is like naming a movie about modern day Iraq Uneventful Peaceful and Stable Nation. The fact that this name passed censors means that the decision must have been in the hands of a prideful, and arrogant censor.
The title was not the only thing that stuck out at me the second time around. Comparing attitudes between the children and adults in the film you could see that the children when faced with a problem took it upon themselves to solve it, while circumventing any adult inclusion. To include their parents in the problem at hand would mean getting beat, and among other things adding to mounting problems. What was interesting was that the parents, unaware of their children's predicament, cared less about rectifying their problems than the children did about rectifying theirs. It is thought to tell if the children recognize this, and are working to become less like their parents to improve their condition in life, or their motivation is purely not to get beaten. Either way this situation opens up some pretty interesting thoughts on how Iran deals with their problems. Are setbacks, and problems the will of god and something that is meant to be, or are they the will of Iran and dealt with only under threat of punishment? Could the younger generations understand that problems are there to fix and pursue rather than mark down as a way of life?
Overall I thought the film was very entertaining without the social commentary, and became transformed into a very meaningful, and surprising piece with the commentary.