Children of Heaven.

“Children of Heaven” is an Iranian film following the lives of a brother and sister and their quest over a pair of lost shoes. The beginning of the film shows the family experiencing many financial issues. Their neighborhood is located in South Tehran and is poor. Their landlord is frustrated with them while telling them that they are five months behind in rent and the grocer had not received any pay in a long time period as well. Ali, the brother of Zahra, takes his little sister's shoes to a shoemaker place in order to get them repaired. Ali loses the shoes in the process. Ali begins to worry on how they will manage, but tells Zahra to make a promise that she will not tattletale to their parents about the lost shoes. The family cannot afford another pair of shoes to by for Zahra, due to the struggle you can witness them experiencing in the film. In order to make do with what they have, Ali and Zahra create a strategic plan by sharing the same pair of sneakers. Zahra goes to school in the early morning hours and finishes the school day right before Ali's time for school begins. Everyday, Zahra runs home after school to give Ali the pair of shoes he needs to wear to school. Although Ali is a great student, this got him into a lot of trouble, due to the fact that he would arrive late to school because of the shoe switching schedule.

In the middle of the film, Zahra discovers that another young girl at school had on her shoes. While she found herself in many occasions where she was tempted to ask for her shoes back, she never musters up the confidence to do so and leaves the girl be. Once Zahra becomes friendly with her fellow classmate, the classmate had already thrown out the shoes Zahra thought was hers and was wearing a fresh new pair. The classmate assured Zahra that the shoes were old and worn down, but it did not matter to Zahra. It was clear that Zahra could not comprehend how a person could throw out a pair of shoes so easily, especially being that she had to share a pair with her brother.

In order to put an end to the lost shoe saga, Ali discovers that there is a marathon race going on at his school. While all of the prizes were rewarding, what Ali considered to be the most worthy was third place. The third place winner was to receive a consolation prize of a brand new pair of shoes. Ali promised Zahra that he would finish in third place as a guarantee and will win the sneakers for her. During the race, there were times that Ali was close to losing. Then there were times that he ran too fast ahead of the bunch and had to slow down in order to get back to third place instead of first. Ali was determined to get the prize for third, he did not want what first place offered. In the end, he was close to losing due to a competitor shoving him down. Ali got back up and ran as fast as he could to the make it line. The minute he made the finish line, he asked out loud “Did I finish third?!” An adult chuckled and told Ali that he finished in first place. It was a bittersweet ending and very sad. First place is not what Ali wanted. Ali wanted third place, he wanted those shoes for his little sister. He was very disappointed and could not hold his head up high for the winning photos.

Poverty is the main theme through out this film. You witness Ali and Zahra's parents struggle to make ends meet and to provide for their children in the best way possible. Their father picked up a job as a gardener and went door-to-door in the rich suburbs in hopes of finding a client that would take him in for a paid job. Also, seeing Zahra and Ali puts things into perspective into how fortunate we may be more than others in poor countries. We often take for granted our ability to wear whatever clothing item we choose and a selection of shoes to wear everyday. While there are many children, like the characters Ali and Zahra, that are not so fortunate. They did not have more than one pair of shoes to wear and were forced to share. Ali was not comfortable when wearing the shoes because they were not the size of her own, but the size of her brother's, which made it too large.

I really enjoyed watching “Children of Heaven.” It made me thank my lucky stars that I do not have to experience the struggle that this family endured everyday to survive. Also, I admired the sibling bond between Ali and Zahra, I thought that they were adorable children. Ali's promise to his sister for a new pair of shoes was a sweet gesture, despite the unfortunate outcome. I was on the edge of my seat during Ali's race, because I really wanted him to win and receive what he wished for in the head. I believe that this was a very good film and I would definitely watch it again.