Children of Heaven (Bacheha-Ye aseman)

Released 1997
Stars Mir Farrokh Hashemian, Amir Naji, Bahare Seddiqi
Directed by Majid Majidi

Children of Heaven opens in the poor quarter of an Iranian city. There we meet Ali (Mir Farrokh Hashemian), a 9-year old boy going home with his sister's worn, pink shoes, which he has just taken to a cobbler for repairs. On the way, he stops at a fruit and vegetable stand to buy some potatoes. He puts the shoes down, and, while he's sorting through a bin, a rag picker mistakenly takes the shoes, thinking they're part of the stand owner's refuse. When Ali arrives home empty-handed, his 7-year old sister, Zahra (Bahare Seddigi), is in tears. What will she wear to school?

Ali has a solution. She goes to school in the morning; he attends in the afternoon. They can share a pair of sneakers. Once her day is done, she can rush home and give the sneakers to him. Unfortunately, there's not enough time for the swap, and Ali arrives late to his first class. Meanwhile, on a day off, he accompanies his father (Amir Naji) to the city's wealthy section in search of work as a gardener - work that will pay enough to give the family a little extra money. And, at school, Ali discovers a possible solution to the shoe dilemma. Third place in a foot race is a pair of new sneakers (first and second prize are more lucrative, but Ali has no interest in them). All Ali has to do is beat out several hundred children and lose to only two, and his sister will be happy.

Summary by James Berardinelli

This is a nice pleasant story about two good kids who are interested in their basic needs. My only problem with the story was its premise about the kids needing to share the pair of tennis shoes. The story tries hard to force the premise, but there's no reason Ali and Zahra couldn't share his two pairs of shoes. Since it's a family movie, you just have to go with it, and it's a nice glimpse into a poor Iranian family with two kids who really care about each other. I helped my kids read the subtitles (there's no English audio track for some reason), and they both enjoyed it. --Bill Alward, June 2, 2003