Children of Heaven

Every once in a while, a movie comes along and jolts us back in time, giving us the ability to see the world through the eyes of children - and making us feel almost ashamed to be grown up. For an all-too-short while, the magical "Children of Heaven" accomplishes just that, vanquishing the cynicism of adulthood and reminding us that, once upon a time, we too were able to live, love and struggle without shame.

"Heaven" is set in modern-day Iran, though its plot and themes are universal. As it opens, nine-year old Ali (Amir Farrokh Hashemian) is returning from school to pick up his younger sister Zahra (Bahare Seddiqi)’s repaired shoes from a local cobbler.

Afterwards, a beggar inadvertently steals the shoes, leading Ali into a panic; his impoverished parents (Mohammed Amir Naji and Fereshte Sarabandi) can barely afford the rent, much less to fix his mistake. Ali devises a plan to conceal the loss from his family, in which he and Zahra swap sneakers before and after school while Ali scrambles to find the original pair.

Ali’s sometimes comic, sometimes tragic quest leads him into conflict with his father, his schoolmaster and his own conscience. He knows he has disappointed his sister, who maintains blind faith in him, and he knows that admitting the lost shoes to his father will plunge the family further into debt. Ali searches and searches for a solution – eventually finding one that might, just might, save his sister and himself.

Throughout the film, we are reminded that kids are smarter, more resilient and observant than we give them credit for. Yes, Ali is a model student and a good son, but he’s also lost in the maze of the real world – halfway in-between naivete and wisdom, he has to navigate, as we all did, the challenges of class, money and education.

While Ali finds his way, director Majid Majidi throws off anecdotal gems that tell of the ugly desperation of poverty and the hopeful, almost Quixotic attempts to escape it. In the best sidenote, Ali’s inarticulate father goes into an affluent suburb to freelance as a gardener, with hilarious – and heartbreaking – results. The poor, under-confident man cannot figure out how to interact with the upper class, even to ask them to allow him to render his services.

Majidi allows Ali, in his innocence, to cut through class differences; he doesn’t fully recognize them, which leads to a minor victory for both father and son. Children, the director argues, may bridge the gap between rich and poor in ways that adults find utterly impossible.

There’s more to the picture, much more, to the movie than a review can summarize, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the ending, which includes a climactic set piece that is three times as thrilling as any Hollywood actioner of the year – a little masterpiece of camerawork and editing that left me breathless with anticipation.

After it’s all over, we’re left with spent emotions and personal memories about the loss of our own youth, of our first inklings of social understanding, of joy and sacrifice. With beautiful, crystal clarity, “Children of Heaven” reminds us that winning is sometimes losing, and sometimes losing can be the most exhilarating feeling in the world.

Rating: *****