Children of Heaven

I recently watched a beautiful Iranian movie - Children of Heaven (Bacheha-Ye aseman). Ofcourse, with subtitles, which served only to the fill the rare gaps when the expressions of lil Zohre and Ali were not sufficient to tell the story.

It all revolves around two pairs of footwear - a pair of lost slippers and a pair of old, worn sneakers...a simple story of two kids who were so loyal to each other that they didnt mind running between home and school every single day. It is all the simple moments captured so brilliantly without words that makes the movie the best I have seen in recent times.

Zohre's sharp eyes, raised eyebrows and sudden smiles are enough to convey her entire gamut of emotions...anger at finding her slippers missing, suspicion when a girl at school wears slippers which are like hers, clarity when the same girl hands over a golden pen back to her, fascination at her bro's lil bribes for keeping her from taking the issue to her parents, anguish for making her brother wait, shame at her worn borrowed sneakers which vanishes with another brilliant smile when her teacher recommends sneakers for everyone at school and on and on.

Her brother Ali is no less. His sister's smile is his greatest prize and he would run as quickly as it takes to put that back in its place. He glows when his dad is proud of him for being able to converse fluently with well-to-do people, introducing them as gardeners. He is torn between the desire to go out and play with his friends and his duties at home - he chooses duties without grudging it. I guess his worried eyes looking out into the empty aisle for the familiar little form of his sister is what stays in your mind long after the movie is over. Epitome of "vazhi mel vizhi veithu kaathirukkiraan" I guess.

Watch it on Google videos:
Children of Heaven:
Part 1
Part 2