Ah Shoe!! Bless you Mister Majidi...

Rating: 10/10 (30 November 2010)

I write as someone who not only loves this film, but as someone who understands how much a pair of shoes is worth.
As I write this, I have about $25 in the bank. I have no other money. I struggle each day to find meaning... and stable work. I have worked all my life... until recently. And now my pair of shoes is at least 2 years old... and I make sure I don't wear them out.
Watching this film again, I can appreciate this story as being more than allegorical. There is symbolism in the film but its literal meaning is as potent as its often poetic images.
So, to anyone who believes this film to simply be a modern analogy... it isn't. There are definitely people living in our world today living under weighty consequences of losing their protective sole. I am one of them.
What I hope this film does for me... and for anyone else who loves this movie... is to help keep our spirits buoyant when life hands us over-sized hand me downs. I know it has reminded me that my shoes look a darn sight better than the ones in this story and yet the characters managed to still keep striving in life. The one thing they never did, was give up.
I hope this ode to love of family, devotion to hope and having a forgiving heart will be one of my beacons, giving me direction towards light when the dark bleak nights of the soul smother me.
This work of motion picture art seems dedicated to all of us who don't have much left in the world except our human hearts. Our need to live for better things. Our desire to hold on to love and the people most dearest to our souls. This is a film about being brave in a world that can easily run us over. If these 2 small children can hold on to hope, perhaps all of us can too.