Includes Summary (Spoiler) and Review

Rating: Null/10 (17 October 2003)

One of my favorite movies is "Children of Heaven," written and directed by Majid Majidi, an Iranian film from 1997. The film industry in Iran is very different from the industry in America. In this film, you will not find any special effects, marketing tactics, or expensive sets. The movie is told in a very simple real fashion using camera work, acting, and real life streets and scenery, giving the film a realistic documentary feel. This characteristic of Iranian film draws us in to the story and gives us the ability to relate closely with the children in a way American films does not. The approach gives the film an honest character and believable reality. This subtitled film humanizes Iran for the American viewer. You realize that people are people no mater where they live, all have the same feelings and emotions. Ali The story is told through the children and their experiences. Children of Heaven takes you into the hearts and lives of a young boy, Ali (played by Amir Farrokh Hashemian), and his sister, Zhara (played by Bahare Sediqi), capturing the life of a family living in poverty in Iran. After watching this movie, seeing a story where a pair of lost shoes can be so important, you realize that we are very lucky to live in a time and country where most people never go without such basic items as shoes. This film shows us a place where people may not have much, but they have what they need most of all, each other. The family bond is strong, that can often be lost in the fast paced and transient society that America tends to be. The father works hard but is basically unskilled. He also has the burden of is caring for a sick wife and a baby as well. The children have to help out in many ways, which further bonds the family. The family lives in a small apartment with only one room. The movie begins as 9-year-old Ali goes out on errands, one of which is taking his sisters shoes to be repaired. The shoes are very worn but are mended. Afterwards he stops to buy some potatoes at the market, leaving the shoes and some other parcels at the front of the store. While Ali is in the store a scrap collector comes along and takes the shoes along with the other bags he collects there. When Ali comes out he finds the shoes missing. He frantically searches the fruit stand boxes, knocking down several in the process, and the storekeeper chases him away. He has a difficult and tearful time telling his sister about the shoes being lost. When Zhara realizes that they are truly gone, she wonders what she will wear to school. Ali knows that his family cannot afford to buy her shoes, and pleads with her to keep this a secret between then. Ali devises a plan and convinces Zhara to go along with it because their parents could not afford shoes at this time and it would only be a burden to tell them of the loss. Ali talks Zhara into sharing his shoes, with Zhara wearing them to her school in the mornings and Ali the afternoons to his. Zhara is skeptical but agrees and suggests that they clean the dirty sneakers. The kids find laughter in this experience as they play with soap bubbles and wash the shoes together. When it rains that night, Zhara wakes Ali, who goes out in the rainstorm to move the shoes to a dry spot. We are hopeful that the plan will work out, but there is not enough time to make the switch without Ali being late to school each day. Ali runs quickly to school and makes the best of the situation. One social difference that you learn about in the film is the schooling where the boys and girls are in separate schools. The schools are very regimented, teach discipline, and gender roles to the children. The students do not speak to adults without raising their hands and waiting for permission. In once scene you see how the family interacts and the honesty that is taught in the home. The father is working for the mosque breaking up a large piece of sugar into small lumps with a hand tool to be used for the tea at the prayer meeting. As they prepare to have tea at home they realize that there is no sugar, but the father will not allow them to use even a small piece because the sugar does not belong to them, it belongs to the mosque. This takes a lot of character when you are faced with doing without, and you have so much temptation right in front of you. However, for them there is no question, you exercise self-control and honesty.
In one scene, the gravity of the situation continues to build its emotional picture when Zhara loses one of the sneakers in the gutter on her way home from school. She runs down the street, desperate to catch the shoe. It was very distressful when she sat crying near where the shoe finally stopped, but remained out of reach in a covered section of the gutter. Fortunately a compassionate storekeeper helps Zhara retrieve the shoe and returns it to Zhara. She doesn't have much time to explain as Ali rushes to put on the shoes, one wet and one dry, and runs off to his own classes.
Ali and Zhara are very touching as they support each other through the adventures with the sneakers. There are several moments of humor as well, making this movie both sad and funny. Although Ali and Zhara are young they understand the gravity of the situation and the importance of not burdening the parents since they are already behind in rent and bills. The children take on the burden of the lost shoes so that their parents won't have to deal with one more problem. Ali truly wants to make it up to Zhara for losing her shoes. He gave her a pen he won for academic achievement, a simple gift that, although insignificant to you and I, is a generous and much appreciated gift between Ali and Zhara. Ali tells Zhara about the opportunity to run in a race to win a pair of sneakers. He promises Zhara he will win the sneakers for her. She is pleased and touched as Ali assures her he can win the shoes for her. The smile on her face is brilliant. Ali is a fast runner and feels that he can win. He has a tearful meeting with the coach and tries to convince him to try him out for the race. Although he has missed the deadline, the coach decides to allow him to race after he sees how fast he can run.
Zhara sees a young girl in the school yard wearing her missing shoes, she befriends the girl after she and Ali follow her home and they see that she has a blind father, they realize that she needs them as much as they do. Zhara is reassured of the girls' honesty when she returns Zhara's pen, the gift from Ali, to her after she saw Zhara drop it in the street.
The race scene is suspenseful as we run along with Ali. As he runs he envisions his sister going to school in his old shoes. Ali is ahead in the race although he is running in the same worn shoes that he shares with Zhara each day. Ali finds himself in 1st place as he comes toward the finish line. He slows down and lets runners pass him by but finds that he is now in 4th place. He struggles to regain his position and fate steps in again, causing Ali to finish in 1st place. Ali cries because h has not won the shoes for Zhara. Everyone is a little shocked that he is not excited to win 1st place with the prizes that it brings. However, we know that although he wins the race, he lost the prize. In his heart he has lost so much, he will continue to carry the burden until Zhara has shoes again.
At home, Ali soaks his sore and blistered feet in a fountain as gold fish swim around. Fortunately, the children are not to be burdened for much longer, in the final scene we watch the father buying shoes for Zhara and Ali with money he eared doing side work as a gardener on the rich side of town. My only disappointment is that we don't get to watch them receive the valuable gifts. This movie shows the simple, unquestioned love between a brother and sister. Instead of the lost shoes coming between them, they make the best of it and become closer by working things out together. You are taken back to the purity and innocence of your childhood through Ali and Zhara. This movie is about much more than a lost pair of shoes, it is about how a family is defined by the things that they do and how they treat each other. Their actions and their decisions make them who they are. Those that try to do right by others and care about people will be rewarded in the end, just not always in the way you expect you can. Its not always in your control.