Cin’s Movie Critiques

Guest Review by Dane Peacock

Children of Heaven

When we were young children, my little sister Joye always had her pretty blonde hair fixed in piggy tails. One day, while I was lying awake in my parent’s bed staring at Joye’s piggy tails, a powerful feeling came over me that I should get out of bed and get the scissors.

I was young and I can’t remember all of the details, but I remember thinking that this was one of my greatest ideas yet. After convincing Joye that she could be part it, she let me cut her piggy tails off. It was quick and easy. Afterwards, it sunk in that I could get in trouble over this. I tried to convince Joye not to tattle on me. She must have, however, because somehow my parents found out.

Children of Heaven is a very captivating tale about a boy and his little sister living in near poverty in a tiny apartment in Iran. In the opening scene, the boy, Ali, picks up his little sister’s shoes from the cobbler, but loses them on the way home.

Ali feels terrible and has to explain it to his sister, Zahra. She is upset, but promises not to tell, knowing that they do not have money to replace them, and to prevent Ali from receiving a beating from their father. They come up with a plan that Zahra will wear Ali’s sneakers to her classes in the morning, and hand them off to Ali for his afternoon classes.

After school, Zahra has to sprint through alleyways to where Ali is waiting, and then he must run the rest of the way to his class. He is late for the first few days, and is nearly expelled, but he becomes increasingly faster.

There are several moments in the movie that really tugged at my heart strings:

Zahra’s willingness to wear her brother’s big sneakers and face the humiliation of her class, her sprints through the alleyway, and her worrying as class runs long, all for the sake of her brother who had lost her shoes.

At one point, Zahra sees another girl wearing her old shoes and follows her home, only to find that the girl is also poor and her dad is blind. Zahra is able to look beyond her shoes and the two girls become friends.

Ali wins an award (a fancy pen) for doing well in school and he immediately gives it to Zahra for the sacrifices she is making for him.

Ali goes into the city with his father to earn extra money by gardening for people. They dream out loud of what they will do with the money. Ali suggests that the first thing they do is buy Zahra a new pair of shoes because hers are “torn.”

Everything culminates in multi-school race. Ali enters the race when he learns that the prize for third place is a new pair of shoes. Ali promises Zahra that he will place exactly third and win her the shoes. She believes him and has no doubt that he will do as promised.

The race involves dozens of children (think of a marathon), and Ali starts back in the pack. Thankfully, there are no annoying voice-over announcers, like in most Hollywood films. The race is told visually and it is one of the most intense scenes I have seen in a movie. By now, Ali’s own sneakers are completely worn out and he struggles through the race as he tries to place exactly third…

The last seen is very poignant as Ali returns home to Zahra on blistered feet.

I watched Children of Heaven with my family and we all enjoyed it. Jamin and Xander were engrossed the entire time, which is rare for them. The film is in Iranian and I had to read the subtitles out loud for Xander’s sake. The acting is very good, especially from the two young stars. It is a fantastic film for children. It is full of selfless acts that unfold naturally and are neither preachy nor forced. Highly recommended!