A jewel in the Iranian Cinema, Majid Majidi’s Children of Heaven comes across as a master piece of its kind. The film based on emotions of sacrifice, selflessness, simple desires and finding joys in fulfillment of life’s simple desires leaves a strong impression on the audiences’ mind.
It is a tale of two siblings Ali and Zahara, Ali being the elder one around 8 years old and Zahara being the younger sister of age around 6-7 years. Apparently the film revolves around the importance of a pair of shoes in their lives.
The film is set up in the backdrop of a village in Tehran, where their family comprising of father, mother and a younger sibling along with the two of them dwells. Zahara the younger sister loses her school shoes and the fear of getting scolded or beaten up by the poor father encourages them to keep this as a secret till the next month. As then the father might afford buying her a pair of new shoes!
So they decide on a plan to keep this a secret. Zahara’s school timings were in the first half of the day when she would wear Ali’s shoes, attend the school and rush back immediately after the off. Then Ali eagerly waiting at the gully outside the colony would wear those shoes and run to his school in the second half, where he would often get late and was scolded by his teachers.
Wherever they went whatever they did only one thing was there in their minds – A pair of shoes. Also the best part was where Ali takes part in an inter school running competition just because he comes to know that the second prize is a pair of sneakers. To top it all he comes first rather than second and tears break into his eyes because all he wanted was a pair of sneakers, nothing more, nothing less and now he would be getting a pair of sports shoes, obviously better than the sneakers but neither Ali nor Zahara was happy about it.
Finally, the story somehow ends leaving behind an exemplary message of love, bonding, sacrifice and concern somewhere deep down inside.
It’s a must watch movie in my opinion. Rest you’ll have to see it in order to believe it.