Am not a movie buff..not even a dash of it..but this one just refuses to get outta my mind..After a long while, I could feel a tear trickling down, not for my own self, but for the shimmer of hope I saw in the eyes of Zahra and Ali.
One of its kind, I would recommend everyone to watch Children of Heaven, an Oscar nominated Iranian movie by Majid Majidi. Its a simple yet heart-touching tale of two siblings, Ali and Zahra. Ali takes the only shoe of Zahra for repairing, and unfortunately loses it on the way back home. The entire movie is woven around the struggle to find a pair of shoes for little Zahra, so that she can go to school. Stunningly simple yet absorbing treatment of the emotions of the two lil ones keeps you hooked till the end, and wanting for more!!
While Ali tries to find a pair of shoes for Zahra, the two are aware that their poor Dad is not in a position to buy one. So they refrain from telling him, and manage with the only pair of torn sneakers that Ali has. Every day, Zahra goes to school in the first shift, and then comes back running all the way, so that Ali can wear them in the second shift. (Suddenly, I have started realising how blessed I am!) This becomes a daily phenomenon-a race against all odds. A pair of shoes, and that becomes the centre of universe for the duo. A race is announced for school kids, where the third prize is a pair of sneakers. Ali tells Zahra about it, and also promises that he'll come third, come what may. The twinkle in Zahra's eyes at the thought of getting a pair of shoes is something you can't afford to overlook. The race happens and despite his best efforts, Ali comes first. Suddenly he's a star and everybody including his principal get themselves photographed with him. Everybody is elated, but for him. Fame, prizes, photographs mean nothing to him. The pair of sneakers have eluded him once again. The movie comes to an end, and the epilogue says that though Ali couldn't win the third prize, he gets a successful career ahead as a racer.
This seemingly simple narrative has been treated with all the naive innocence of the kids. The spectrum of emotions that Ali and Zahra have managed to exhibit with all the earnesty makes the movie a visual delight, and language does not become a barrier at any time during the movie.
The simple sequence of Zahra chasing the shoe when it falls into a gutter, makes you feel like running by her side, and help her grab it. You just make an instant connection with the pair, and start feeling for them.
Its amazing the way the director gets into the child psyche, and shows the bonding between the siblings..their little moments of joy amidst all the struggle for their everyday needs. The scene when Zahra and Ali start playing with the soap bubbles formed when Zahra tries to clean the dirt-smitten sneakers is plain heartening..small things in life giving so much joy to kids..and we as grown-ups just don't know how to savour them. There's one more sequence worth mention, when Ali goes to uptown with his dad to make some money. They indeed make some, and the conversation between the two takes you to a different world, where dreams start unfolding- "Son, we'll soon have some more money, and then we can buy a refrigerator, and may be rent a better house, and your mom will get some better treatment...", "..and a new pair of shoes for Zahra, Dad?" is all that Ali says..nothing matters to him more than that..ah!
A movie to savor-do I need to say more?
And yes, on a closing note, it reminds me of the famous story by Premchand-"Eid-gaah", which again revolves around a a deprived child, and his poor granny, trying to make both ends meet, and in the process, trying to save some pennies, so that poor Hamid gets an 'Idi', and gets to live some share of his childhood(most of which is already tattered in the battle against abject poverty, save for his dreams that his ammi and abba will someday return from their trip to heaven, and bring him goodies).Hamid, on the other hand keeps thinking of his grandma, who doesn't have a 'chimta'(pair of tongs), and her hands get burnt every other day while cooking. He goes to the mela, and is a mute spectator, when all his friends are savouring mouth-watering sweets, and enjoying merry-go-rounds. He eludes all the temptations of the child within, and buys a chimta. Amazing story encompassing all the maturity of childhood!!
There are those days, when you feel absolutely disgusted by all the right and wrong things going around you, and you crave for an escape from eveything, just searching for some solitude..gripped by the annui of a routine life, stagnant relations, pressing deadlines, and the burden of your aimless ambitions..and one such evening, I was just strolling the road to the historical south Indian temple in the vicinity, thinking all that I needed to tell dear "Rab ji"...and as if HE knew it all, something happened on the way, that just made me feel lighter by tonnes.
