Children of Heaven

What do you do when you lose a pair of shoes? Well, you get frustrated trying to find them, but eventually you just give into wearing a different pair that you own. Easier said than done in this film, when you only have one pair of shoes to wear. Ali loses his younger sister's shoes, and to avoid getting in trouble, they must share Ali's sneakers. Ali is continuously late for school, but never has a good excuse, because who wants to say, "Oh, sorry sir. I was waiting for my little sister to return from school because we share sneakers"? Nobody. Not even some poor children in Iran. With a mother who's ill, and a father who barely pays the rent, Ali can't put another burden on them by confessing that he lost sister Zahra's shoes, so the two children do what they can. Luckily Ali finally thinks he may have a chance at fixing their problem when there is a race announced at school that offers new sneakers for the 3rd place winner. With all the running Ali's been doing to avoid being late to school, now's his time to show off his skills. Well, not so ironically Ali actually winds up winning the race and not winning a new pair of shoes, but instead a more awesome prize that he can't consider appreciating. So he goes home and delivers the bad news to his sister and stews in a mixture of sadness, frustration and disappointment. Luckily, we the viewers had gotten a glimpse of dad on his way home with new shoes for the kids, after he earned some extra money working in the wealthy section of town.




Children of Heaven's themes revolve around family in Ali and Zahra's sticky situation. The audience is brought down to the level of these children, as they tackle obstacles over something that seems so simple. Zahra never tells on Ali, and Ali never gives up trying to fix the problem straight through to deciding he was going to win the race. Both of the children try to get by for the sake of themselves, but also because they know their family cannot afford another pair of sneakers. Zahra races through a test and even asks the teacher what time it is just so she can leave to be on time with Ali's shoes. Ali gives Zahra gifts while he tries to find a way to get back her sneakers. They stick together, and that's what family is about, and that's what this movie portrays in a really heart warming way. Anybody can relate, even though most cannot relate to not having another option in footwear.

Children of Heaven is enjoyable because it's relatable. You want to see these kids win in the end, and at every turn you're waiting for something good to happen. There's no way to watch that race without keeping track of what place Ali is in. You watch it on the edge of your seat, hoping that he keeps third. You want to jump in when he gets reprimanded for being late, because you know he didn't mean to. These kids are the most genuine kids you'd ever seen. For a foreign film, I'd definitely recommend it, even to a younger audience. It's simple, gets the message across, tells a story straight and to the point, and to top it off, even has a happy ending, even if Ali didn't know it yet.