If big things often come in small packages, then “the children of heaven” is as small as they get. The entire movie is carried on the shoulders of two small, diminutive revelations for the Iranian cinema – Amir Farrokh Hashemian as Ali and Bahare Seddiqi as Zahra.

Ali, a young boy of about nine, unintentionally loses his sister’s only pair of shoes at a shop, which is picked up unknowingly by a blind rag-picker. A terrified Ali tells his sister, Zahra, not to tell on him, as his impecunious parents are hardly able to make the two ends meet. Poverty gives birth to a certain motivating desperation and sense of innovation - manifested by the two as they formulate a plan to keep the secret concealed from their parents. Fortunately for them, their schools timings are almost complementary, allowing them to use Ali’s shoes and keep the secret under the wraps, until Ali can get her new shoes. However, Ali frequently courts trouble as he reaches his class late and is almost expelled by the principal (but saved by one of his teachers)

As they zip through the following weeks in frenzied sequences of sprinting through the maze of Tehran’s streets, sneaking in and out of classes, exchanging shoes, and running errands, Ali’s mind is on finding her old shoes or getting her a new pair. One fine day, Zahra comes across her elusive shoes, adorning the feet of one of her classmates. On following her, she finds out that her family is even poorer than Zahra’s, deterring her to ask for her rightful possessions.

Ali’s prayers are answered as he comes to know about a race being organized, and the prize is… You guessed it right – a shiny pair of sneakers! However, there is a catch, the shoes are for the 2^nd runner up; the winner gets a very nice enviable track suit. So our protagonist is vying for the third spot in the race. But like all things go wrong, he ends up winning the race, and losing the coveted sneakers. But not all is lost – their father gets them both new pairs of shoes with remunerations from a job. In the closing shot, Ali’s blessed feet are kissed by the fish – a befitting tribute to his spirit.

The film is intricately simple. Simple because it brings out the simplest of emotions – kindness, innocence, sincerity, honesty – so beautifully; intricate, as it weaves a simple story with minimal verbiage (it could almost be a silent movie), through the characters’ smiling, grimacing, optimistic, cheerful and sorrowful faces. It’s as if the faces are communicating by the subtle, almost unnoticeable movement of their features, directly with the hearts and minds of the viewer. Such is the power of complete cinema.

I had mentioned in another post, The color of paradise, that Majidi uses children in his movies to perfection. Well, here’s another testimony to that! Watch it when you want to feel good about the world.

P.S – A little birdie called Wikipedia told me that an Indian movie called Salaam Bacche has been “inspired” by this movie. We all know what that means – Please keep off the counterfeit and go for the Real McCoy.

Here’s the opening scene for a quick bite