Simply Powerful and Classic!!!

Rating: 10/10 (29 June 2012)

The movie starts with a cobbler mending a pair of shoes and this goes on for about a good 3 minutes. One wonders why the director would choose to show something like this for 3 mins. But this gave me a sense of assurance that I am gonna watch a gripping and a solid movie. And yes, it was more than what I'd expected. This is one movie that I don't miss mentioning in any discussion about movies among friends.
The movie's beauty is in its details, the mood set for the plot, the simplicity of its narration, the characterization and of course the performances. The story is simply this. Bro loses the pair of shoes of his kid sis. Disappointed sis agrees to share the pair of bro's sneakers fearing their father's reaction to the lost shoes / empathizing with father's helpless financial situation. Rest of the movie is just about how they manage with one pair of sneakers.
The movie would have been half as decent without the details delved in to in some of the simpler things - right from showing a typical day in the life of the boy, details of how impoverished the family is and the several hints / dialogues pointing to that, sis chasing a sneaker that fell in the gutter, camera tracking the sis and bro all the way from and to school every day showing the busy streets, the distance, etc., the sis looking at the shoes worn by other students during the prayer session at school and her mental preoccupation with the shoes while other kids have fun playing around. The director has taken every possible effort to totally impress upon the viewer a few things - the family's financial situation, the kids' camaraderie and their respect and love for each other, their ability to empathize and manage. Any shortfall in impressing these premises would have just not lead to such an impact from the movie.
About the performances. The kids' expressions speak volumes!! Right number of dialogues fitting the innocence and responsible nature of the kids. Emotions have been dealt with absolute clinical precision. Right mix of innocence, subservience, love, anger, empathy, frustration, etc. The change of moods in a split second whenever the kids' discuss the pair of shoes just brings goosebumps and tears. There are many occasions when the sis loses her temper over the bro for having lost her shoes and warns him about complaining to their dad. She however holds high regards for her bro (which she displays beautifully) and listens to him on why she should not do that. From fury it gradually mellows down to anger-with-respect to frustration to helplessness and to childish joy from reassuring comfort provided by bro. All in 1-2 mins. Any more or less dialogues than what they are would have just screwed it all up.
Background score does its bit judicially. It supports the screenplay and performances by not distracting the viewers with music everywhere just for the heck of it. Background is more of sounds of the world around.
Overall a must watch for every movie connoisseur and particularly for those who love family drama genre. Movies that come close in terms of impact created and brilliance in film making are bicycle thief, life is beautiful, pursuit of happiness, hachiko, shwaas (marathi), kanchivaram (tamil) and parts of colour of paradise (from the same director as children of heaven). I'd rate this 10 on any day!! Very glad I watched this movie.