Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

CinemaClown A masterwork of heartfelt grace, endless warmth & soulful compassion, Children of Heaven is an affectionately crafted, tenderly structured & wonderfully performed coming-of-age drama that not only paints a beautifully evocative portrait of siblings relationship but also offers a very captivating glimpse into the lives of lower-class Persian society.Set in an impoverished neighbourhood in Tehran, Children of Heaven concerns a young boy whose routine is thrown off-balance after he misplaces a pair of shoes that belonged to his sister. Promising to make up for the loss and requesting her to not mention the incident to their parents, the two devise a scheme to solve the problems on their own in the meantime.Written & directed by Majid Majidi, the film features a very simple premise which is then brought to life in a very humane & humble manner. Despite the poor neighbourhood setting, the story doesn't have an ounce of cynicism in it, for all Majidi is concerned with is illustrating the siblings bonding & their shared predicament after the shoes go missing. It's pure, kind-hearted & delightfully sweet.Set pieces are kept to a minimum, plot is firmly rooted in reality, and there is a very naturalistic feel to how its events unfold. The two kids play their part very convincingly and are finely supported by the rest of the cast. Pacing is steady throughout its runtime, and keeps its childhood spirit alive till the very end. And its blissful tone & adorable quality is further amplified by its mesmerising score.On an overall scale, Children of Heaven is an exquisite, nostalgic & intimate cinema that captures the essence of childhood in full-fledged fashion and brims with heartwarming themes that reflect the goodness in humanity. An adorable, innocent & refreshing delight that begins on an arresting note and culminates on an emotional high, this Persian gem is absolutely worth your time & money. Thoroughly recommended.

Takethispunch The film starts with Ali fetching his little sister Zahra's pink shoes after a cobbler has repaired them. He leaves them unattended to buy some potatoes. While he is pre-occupied, a homeless man picks up the shoes, hidden in a bag, thinking it was garbage and takes them away. Frantic to find them, the young boy thinking the shoes fell behind the crates knocks over plates of vegetables and is chased away by the grocer.Ali's family lives in a poor South Tehran neighbourhood, and are having financial trouble, so he fears to tell his parents about the mishap. The landlord argues with Ali's mother because she is five months behind on the rent, and the grocer has not been paid in a while either. Ali tells Zahra about the shoes and begs her not to tell their mother; she agrees. That night, Ali's father scolds him for not helping his ill mother when she asked. While the siblings were doing their homework, they passed notes to each other discussing what to do. They devise a scheme to share Ali's Converse sneakers: Zahra will wear them to school in the morning and return them to Ali at midday so he can attend afternoon classes. Ali does well on a test and his teacher awards him a gold-colored pen with the others in his class that got good grades; he gives it to Zahra to partially make up for losing her shoes. However, the uncomfortable arrangement between him and his sister leads to Ali being late three times in a row, no matter how hard he runs; the first time the principal ignores him, the second time he gives him a warning, the third time he tells Ali to leave and return with his father who is at work trying to make money. Ali's teacher noticing Ali's tears persuades the principal that Ali is at the top of his class and to give the boy one more chance and let him back into class.

sharky_55 The film's poster has a bright, dream-like quality, as though it has been etched from a child's imagination itself. But the stories within are not daydreams, but real issues that a young brother and sister have to face at a much too early age. When Ali takes his sister's shoes to be mended, they are mistaken for trash (which tells you as much about their condition of living) and taken away. This would be a hard sell in a western setting; it seems inconceivable that such a mundane loss could propel a family into such desperation. We take the very material that protects our feet from the ground for granted. For Ali's family there is no such fortune. When he returns home crestfallen, he can barely believe what he has allowed to happen and cannot face breaking the news to his sister. Zahra's anticipation is along the liens of the poster; her eyes are wide, bright, and innocent, and she has the type of face that is impossible to disappoint. He breaks it to her slowly, gently. They silently pass notes between each other because the father would beat them if he found out. But I think there is also another reason for this. We underestimate the feelings of children so often. They do so in secret because they have enough sensitivity and awareness that they do not want to heap yet another problem onto the pile for their parents. The film is full of moments which give them the opportunity to open up about their poverty and domestic issues. But they carry with them a fierce pride that prevents them from doing so. There is a very real and realised scene where their father explodes because of all their misfortune and the lack of control around it. Ali and Zahra see this and respond; they want to minimise, and they want to resolve this issue themselves. And later, there is the heartbreaking moment where they track down the user of Zahra's old shoes, but see the recipient's misfortune for themselves, and slowly shuffle away with this realisation. This is maturity beyond their years.There are a few brief moments in which they are allowed the freedom to act their age. As the father toils hard in the garden, Ali is allowed to play with the similar aged son, and we are reminded of what a child should be doing. Their laughter is little more than gurgles, like a newborn baby. And when Zahra and he are afforded a moment to blow bubbles, the soundtrack, which has been strictly diegetic for almost the entirety of the film, chimes in with this soft, tinkling tune. It is an alien sequence, seemingly from another film with another subject matter. But it works because the audience and both Ali and Zahra are aware of the juxtaposition, and know how precious and fleeting the scene is. Majidi crafts the film in the tradition of the great Italian neo-realist films, which prioritised authenticity and realism above all, and examined the plight of the working class. The camera observes like a fly on the wall, never quite staying still, with no audacious movements for aesthetics' sake. The soundtrack places us within the scene, and allows us to hear what the characters hear, the bustle of many families with their own struggles. Majidi makes what could be seen as contrived (bicycle brakes failing at a crucial moment) into something heart-stopping and fearful. We have invested so much into Ali's family that we understand that such a fall could ruin them beyond repair. And yet Majidi does break this stylistic convention at the most pivotal of times. Besides neatly sidestepping the previous obstacle (the father is shown to be healthy and walking soon after), the narrative conveniently forgets about the substantial payment of the gardening job if only to heighten the tension of the cross country race. Majidi inserts garish and heavy-handed reminders of Ali's struggle as he huffs and puffs, as if he does not trust the audience enough to remember. The sound is muted and voice-over recalls what he is running for, and each step is magnified in the slow motion. These techniques belong in a lesser film. But there is a poetic sentiment about it; Ali wants to right his own wrongs, and Hashemian expresses every last spasm of regret in those eyes. The film gently assuages...that for today at least, he does not have to do it all himself.

the-fearless-america It's been a long time since I first watched this movie. Maybe its about 10 years ago when I was in 5th grade elementary school. That time, I don't care too much about this movie. I'm not touched that deep. Now I'm nearly 24 and by accident I watch this movie again. Then bammm... As I grow mature, this movie has changed into a great movie, I touched so deep. I'm so lucky when I take a trip by train, It play this movie in it's train television. It was a gift and thankful moment in my life. I totally forget about this movie before, and by accident, I blessed by fate to witness this masterful story of incredible movie which unknown to most people. Thank you fate..CoH is a story of brother and sister who struggling for their life. They only have one pair of shoes, but both of them need it for school. They have a kindly-hearted father whose a gardener and a hard-worker man. He want to bought them a new shoes, but by accident He face so many problems until the plan was hard. One time, the brother see a long marathon competition with a prize of shoes if winning at 3rd position. So He take a gamble to use their current shoes to join the competition. Neither if the shoes will broken or they get a new shoes. This was when the sacrifice element of the movie exist. A very strong kind of sacrifice element. Simple, but sharp as sword. CoH is a seldom-kind of storyline crafted sharply by unknown Iranian director. The brother make a promise to the sister to win at 3rd place. Unfortunately, the brother win the first place. He regret it so much..The problems by problems coming by soft suspenses but surprisingly sad. The ending is so perfect for this kind of story. A cinematic and piercing scene. A shot of broken shoes, into a shot of moving legs to pond, into a shot of fish coming to legs.. What an Incredible cinematic scenes.. Truly classic..CoH's storyline is not sentimental or temperament, yet It's not complex. It's just simple, deep, and powerful. It's been a while since i watch strong drama like this. A rare-made movie. I watch this movie with no volume at all because the TV position was too far from me. It's like i watch a silent movie but in color. I only see the subtitle, but the impact that CoH give to me was so deep. With no melancholy sentimental back-sound but still have a proweness execution of storytelling. It's like a Hollywood 30's classic film such as those old Chaplin's but made in modern time, but of course still not reach the beyond level of Chaplin. Still, CoH was a kind of universal and full of humanities.The performance were near flawless. All the emotions, eye-contacts, and gestures were executed correctly. Especially the brother and the father. Natural Iranian style performance they did were amazing. The cinematography is not good as Hollywood classics, but CoH still have a few good scenes, We should appreciate that. The writing is splendid. The character development executed in exact duration. Not too much but not too small. Writing is the strong point of this movie beside the performances.This is an underrated classic Iranian made by unknown director. In this movie, the director nearly pass the standard of Asghar Farhadi, the current Iranian famous director. I remember most people that sit near to me giving huge applause by the end of this movie. From teenagers to adolescents. They all said "What a good movie" and "What a sad movie". Most of them shaken and most of them admiring CoH. They share comment to each other besides them. What a movie.. It's an audience shaker guys !