Apr 1, 2011

Children of Heaven (1998)

I cried watching most parts of this movie. The plot is very simple, but will leave a lot of things for us to ponder.

Nine-year old Ali takes his younger sister's shoes to be mended by the cobbler. On the way back home, he somehow lost the shoes. Knowing that his parents would be upset and do not have any money to buy his sister, Zahra, a new pair of shoes, he keeps the matter from his parents. To solve this problem, Ali asks Zahra to wear his sneakers to school in the morning, while he wears it to school in the afternoon. In that way both of them can still go to school. Ali then finds out that a marathon tournament will be held in the town. He promises Zehra that he would win the third place to get a pair of new shoes for her.


What amaze me the most in this movie is how mature Ali and Zehra are. Growing up in a poor family, both of them know how to not let their parents feel sad and upset. Ali is a responsible brother, looking after his family at such a young age. He knows it was his fault, and he is not hesitate to apologize from his sister. He gives Zehra a pencil, and then a pen (that he gets from his teacher for getting a high mark in a test) to make her happy. Looking at the other students who wear nice shoes, Zehra is sad that she has to wear her brother sneakers to school. She also has to run everyday after school to meet with Ali and give him the sneakers. But she endures it, so that her parents are happy. I believe a normal little girl would have thrown a tantrum if she has to do that.


They are indeed the children of heaven.


Some of us are so lucky. We have many shoes that sometimes we can't choose which one to wear. But, we have to realize that in some parts of this world, people are struggling to survive and some people can't even afford to buy a pair of shoes. 


10/10. Love it so much.


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