Heaven Can Wait.

Rating: 9/10 (31 December 2016)

When reading up about the Iran New Wave (INW) one of the first titles I found out about was Majid Majidi's Children of Heaven. Intrigued by the details,I was disappointed in being unable to track a good print of the movie down. Checking on what films were about to go from Netflix UK,I was thrilled to find an INW film,that I hoped would be heavenly viewing.
The plot:
Going to get shopping for his family,Ali puts the new shoes his dad ordered for his sister Zahra on the side for a minute.Coming back with a shopping bag,Ali finds that the shoes have been taken. Thinking of the money issues facing the family,Ali tries to keep things hidden. Secretly talking to Zahra,the siblings make a deal of each taking it in turns to wear Ali's old sneakers between classes. Believing that this is the new path they must walk,Ali is thrilled to learn of a contest that might let him make things up to Zahra.
View on the film:
Keeping the camera at Ali and Zahra's level,writer/director Majid Majidi & cinematographer Parviz Malekzaade masterfully cut rustic INW Neo-Realism with the dramatic heft of the Sports Drama. Keeping costs as low as possible by shooting on location, Majidi gives the side streets of Tehran an earthy atmosphere brushed with lingering shots breathing in the daily life of the family and small tracking shots getting beneath the busy streets of the town. Stepping into the "sports movie" Majidi balances the earthy setting with elegant slow motion that brings out the loud gasps from Ali in his desire to make up for his mistake.
Lacing a bond between brother and sister,the screenplay by Majidi gives an extraordinary richness in the daily lives of the family,as Majidi brings to light the smallest moments between the family,from Zahra and Ali writing less than secret notes to each other,to Ali having to run out in the rain to put his torn sneakers in the family shoe area. Joining Ali in putting running shoes on, Majidi wonderfully skips over Sport movie clichÃ©s by keeping Ali's contest firmly linked to the family troubles that give the film a touchingly poetic final note. Criss-crossing school runs under the noses of their mum and dad, Amir Farrokh Hashemian and Bahare Seddiqi give magnificent performances as Ali and Zahra,thanks to Seddiqi giving Zahra a taut sharpness, whilst Seddiqi gives Ali a nose to the grindstone determination to find some heavenly footwear.