| Children of Heaven | |
| Studio: Miramax Director: Majid Majidi Screenplay By: Majid Majidi Producer: Amir Esfandiari Release: 2002 Cast Mohammad Amir Naji .... Ali's Father Amir Farrokh Hashemian .... Ali Bahare Seddiqi .... Zahra Nafise Jafar-Mohammadi .... Roya Fereshte Sarabandi .... Ali's Mother Kamal Mirkarimi .... Assistant Behzad Rafi .... Trainer Dariush Mokhtari .... Ali's Teacher Mohammad-Hasan Hosseinian .... Roya's Father Masume Dair .... Roya's Mother Kambiz Peykarnegar .... Race Organizer Hasan Roohparvari .... Race Photographer Abbas-Ali Roomandi .... Shoemaker Jafar Seyfollahi .... Green Grocer Qolamreza Maleki .... Salt Seller |  
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| Children of Heaven
Children of Heaven is a movie that will have everyone in the room satisfied with enjoyment. It reminds you of the power to want to succeed. Children of Heaven does an excellent job of showing what life is like in a third world country, by detailed setting, plot, and the motif of running. The setting of this movie takes place in a third world country. It is a very poor town and Children of Heaven gives a depressing overview of what life is like living in this place. There is not a lot of money or food to go around. The people have to live day to day not really knowing what will happen. They are honest and polite people, but they don’t have much. The families have problems just like everyone else, especially about money. Ali and his sister are in first and third grade. They help out around the house and run errands for their parents. For as young as they are, they have a lot of responsibilities that one would assume of a teenager. They go to the store and buy food for the family. The two young children clean up the house and take care of each other. Their parents don’t have much money to buy much of anything. After accidentally losing a pair of his sister’s shoes, Ali goes through many problems in trying to find another way to find her shoes. Neither of them would tell their parents because they knew they didn’t have the money to buy a new pair. They also knew their dad would probably beat them. Ali finds himself literally in a foot race against time. He has to find this pair of shoes or get another pair, before either of his parents find out. He knows it is his fault for losing the shoes, and that is why he takes it upon himself to hunt down the shoes. Heart-breaking, yet motivating, Children of Heaven will have you asking yourself one question; do you take your life for granted? One motif that really stood out in this film was running. The director has Ali and his sister constantly running to and from school, switching shoes and then running some more. Ali, running the race for the new pair of shoes, and being disappointed when he comes in first. The point the director was maybe trying to make here was that life is a constant race. You are always running towards a goal. That life does not always turn out the way you want it to. Yet in the end, just like this film proves, life has a way of working itself out. I really liked this film. I thought it portrayed the life of a struggling family, in a third world country, very well. Even though times were tough this family still had fun, and most importantly, they had each other. As far as feelings go, you can’t help but feel sorry for them. They have little to no money and they need so many things. Most people, you would find them angry and depressed. On the other hand, I envy how they treat one another. Everyone is nice and polite and they treat each other with respect. The families are helping and they all pull their own weight to get something accomplished. They also fend for each other. The target audience for Children of Heaven would be students, parents, and families. The younger generation wouldn’t like it so much for the fact that a lot of reading is involved. If you enjoy a smart well rounded film this is the one to see. I think that people who watch this movie will ultimately feel that this film is a good one, and that the many people who watch this film, may have different opinions, but will have similar feelings about it. There is something about this film that will have you on the edge of you seat, wondering what will happen next. Reviewer Rating of Movie : | |
