CHILDREN OF HEAVEN A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): **
Ali (Mohammad Amir Naji), an Iranian third-grader, is working hard to come in third place in the big race. Battling hundreds of other competitors about his age, he races four kilometers around the lake. As he approaches the finish line, he is in danger of overachieving -- only a third place finish will win the shoes he needs. Ever since he lost his sister's shoes, they have been time-sharing his pair of shoes, so he desperately needs exactly two runners in front of him.
CHILDREN OF HEAVEN (BACHEHA-YE ASEMAN), written and directed by Majid Majidi, is less a movie than a visual pantomime of a short story. The thin narrative and sparse dialog almost dares critics not to like it by imbuing just about every character with near sainthood. When we finally meet the one family we expect to hate, it turns out to be led by a blind beggar with a heart of gold. Add in the amateurish acting, and you would seem to have a recipe for a film that will cause people to smile politely and try think of kind things to say.
The director does fashion a few nice visuals. The movie opens with an intimate close-up of a little girl's shoes being mended. Another lovely little image has kids blowing soap bubbles at each other. Too often, however, he runs out of ideas and just films the same ugly alleyway, again and again.
The story's dirt-poor family hasn't paid their rent in 5 months, and they're overdrawn on their credit with the grocer. The son, Ali, loses his first-grade sister Zahra's (Mir Farrokh Hashemian) shoes on the way back from the shoe repair shop. The plot revolves around the logistics of sharing shoes and of obtaining a replacement pair. Using little dialog, the film sticks to the visuals to tell the bulk of its story. The kids spend large amount of their screen time either racing to swap shoes or waiting for the one with the shoes to return home.
As a change of pace, one day Ali and his father take a beat-up bike and go looking for work as gardeners in Tehran's wealthy enclaves, where the rich live in alabaster mansions behind large gated walls. The movie's best sequence occurs when the father gets inside the gates and views the exterior of one of the elaborate homes. His saucer-sized eyes speak volumes, as he is dumbstruck by the opulence.
Many obvious questions are never answered. Why don't their parents ever realize the shoes are missing? And, why don't the kids wear their sandals, which they both have, rather than continue getting in trouble for being late to school?
The movie does contain one amazing scene. We actually see the kids doing homework! Kids all over America do this everyday -- except in American movies.
CHILDREN OF HEAVEN runs just 1:28. The film is in Persian with English subtitles. It is not rated but would be a G since nothing even remotely offensive occurs. The picture would be fine for all ages, but kids would probably need to be at least 9 to be interested.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: www.InternetReviews.com
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