"Children of Heaven"

"Children of Heaven"

"Children of Heaven" was released in 1999. The movie was directed by Majid Majidi. This film is an Iranian film about a secret between two siblings, Ali and Zahra, which results in a great adventure. Ali loses his sisters shoes, which were given in for repair, while picking up potatoes from the grocery store. The shoes were accidentally picked up by a blind man. Afraid of getting beaten by their father, Ali and Zahra keep this secret to themselves and construct a scheme to make do with only one pair of shoes. They decide to share the pair of shoes; Zahra wears them to school in the morning and return them to Ali so he can attend his afternoon classes. While this seemed to be a strategic idea, Ali was often late to school and scolded by the principle several times. Knowing their financial status, Ali traveled with his father to help earn a few extra dollars. In an attempt to attain a new pair of shoes for Zahra, Ali takes part in a race hoping to come in third, which would guarantee him a vacation camp and pair of new shoes, but ends up placing first.

The theme of this movie is based largely on sibling love and the morals embedded deeply within them. Despite losing her shoes, Zahra agrees to not tell on her brother knowing the consequences and the burden it might put on her family financially. Although a struggle, the two children share the pair of shoes with very little confrontation. They both try very hard to keep this secret from their parents whom they seem to respect a lot. Ali helps his father earning a few extra dollars at the age of nine, and Zahra helps her mother with the chores and looks after her new-born sibling. They understand their role as children during that period of time and never seem to complain about the situation they are in. When Zahra follows the girl who has her shoes home, she learns that her father is blind. Feeling sympathy for them, she walks away allowing the girl to keep her shoes. Ali refuses to burden his father by his mistake, and takes it upon himself to get his sisters shoes back and thus takes part in a race.

Children of Heaven, was a wonderful movie not only for children but for adults as well. It shows the innocence of the children and the great lengths they will go to help each other and their parents. The movie shows how much respect these children have for their parents, and the responsibility they take on at such a young age, despite being children and how their way of life differs from that of the western world. Throughout the movie however, one can’t help but wonder whether these children will one day grow up to resent the lost childhood they never got to experience.