Rating: 
Summary: Tears in heaven, too.
Review: Very entertaining and ultimately melancholy film concerning two young children in the "inner city" of modern Tehran. You know it's going to be special right from the opening credits: we watch a pair of masculine hands, with fat, wrinkly, dirty fingers and bruised fingernails, at work on mending a ragged pair of girls' shoes. It suffices as a metaphor for the entire movie. "Fragile beauty" is the feeling, here. In fact, the movie is all feeling. It's certainly not about "plot": a young boy loses his little sister's shoes (the ones just recently mended) while grocery-shopping for his temporarily disabled mother. Fearful of a whipping from their father, the kids decide to conceal this circumstance by sharing the boy's sneakers. After the little sister is finished at kindergarten, she meets her brother daily in an alley and swaps footwear. (The brother gets by in the morning on what appears to be house-slippers.) Sis heads for home, and Brother makes his daily mad dash for his own school (we worry about his habitual tardiness). It's the same sort of airy, sentimental premise that marred fellow-Iranian Jafar Panahi's *The White Balloon*: Majidi's movie is equally prone to a paucity of narrative incidents as well as all-around repetition. However, Majidi seems to sense this, and breaks the daily pattern with an excursion into one of Tehran's better neighborhoods, with homes behind tall gates that have intercoms. The boy Ali accompanies his father, who is seeking to supplement his income by moonlighting as a gardener, on a rickety bicycle that they share. (They're too poor to own a car.) What follows is a scene that must happen daily in Beverly Hills: the laborer goes door-to-door, begging for work. L.A. and Tehran have nothing in common, except humanity. The movie also airs out a bit when Ali, still fretting over his inability to secure his little sister some new shoes, decides to join a city-wide junior marathon. His aim? THIRD place -- the prize of which is . . . a pair of shoes. (Luis Bunuel would've loved this movie.) All of this may be too saccharine for many tastes, but stick around -- it turns out that Majidi's got a sad little surprise waiting for us at the end. Without spoiling the film, let's just say that it has something to do with the loneliness of sacrificing yourself, the isolation of sainthood. Ali will go to Heaven someday, but here on earth, only the goldfish think him worthy of praise.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful story of a brother's love for his little sister
Review: This 1997 film is from Iran. And it's the kind of film that the whole family can enjoy. It's about a 9-year old boy who loses his 7-year old sister's shoes through no fault of his own. They are very poor and they both want to keep it a secret from their parents. And so they share his only pair of worn-out sneakers. She wears them to school in the morning, and then runs through the streets, gives him the shoes and he wears them in the afternoon. Such a plan is not without its challenges, however. She almost loses a shoe when it falls into a gutter. He's late for school. The shoes are worn. Both of them crave a pair of their own.Amir Farrokh Hasherman is cast as the boy. He has the biggest, most expressive eyes I've ever seen and my heart immediately went out to him. Bahare Seddiqi is the little sister. She wears a long dress and a white head covering just like all the other little girls. It's their shoes that show their individuality and she is always looking at all the other little girl's feet. One day she sees a little girl wearing her own lost shoes, but the other little girl is the daughter of a blind beggar. Later, there is a footrace announced in the little boy's school. He finds out that if he wins third prize he can get a new pair of sneakers. The tension mounts. One of the best things about this film is that it brought me into another culture. This is not about revolution and bombs and sadness. This is just a simple story about the love between a brother and sister. It transcends all cultures, and makes the audience see the humanity of the children. There's one scene where they clean the shoes and blow great big soap bubbles at each other. It certainly is heartwarming. I just wanted to give these children a great big hug. This is a beautiful film. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A great movie
Review: I love this movie. I honestly thought that it was going to be a boring movie, but I loved every part of the movie and am going to watch it again. It really exposes the innocence of children that we so often forget. The movie is so raw and so unpretentious. I recommend this movie to everybody who loves children and who just love simple movies.
Rating:
Summary: Astounding!
Review: A brilliant, low-budget Iranian film that puts the majority of gigantic Hollywood films to shame, CHILDREN OF HEAVEN is far and away the most beautiful, uncynical movie I've seen in years. This film is proof positive that a simple story, well told, is infinitely more powerful than all the CGI effects, explosions, car chases, guns, violence, comedic dialogue, steamy sex scenes and multi-million dollar superstars Hollywood can muster. And as an American guy in his early thirties, I'm in Hollywood's target demographic! Sorry Tinseltown, but you'd do well to take a few lessons from the true masters of the artform. Start with Majid Majidi!
Rating:
Summary: A Pair of Shoes....
Review: Ali is a nine year old from a very poor family who has just lost repaired shoes that belong to his sister while helping his family. In shame he explains this to his younger sister, Zohra, who threatens to tell their father about the lost shoes. Ali understands the dilemma better then Zohra, and he explains that they both will be beat by their father if he finds out. They come up with a new idea on how to avoid their fathers wrath; however, this idea leads to new problems outside the family. Children of Heaven has a depressing impact on the audience; nevertheless, the cinematic experience is awesome.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic movie. very original. simply wonderful
Review: After seeing this movie, you just could not love the iranian people especially their wonderful children. I have to collect this one to warm up my heart forever. to some action or thriller movies addicts, this might not the cup of tea you could appreciate, but to those still with love and softness, this one may open another window to your life.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting story, not real though
Review: The movie is a excellent movie. Majid Majidi is an outstanding awardwinning director. But the movie doesn't show the real life of the people in Iran. The truth is that many people in Iran specially big cities like Tehran have a very very high standard of life. I live in United states and I have been in many countries in Europe and asia and middle east. I was very impressed by the beautiful houses and level of life of many Iranians. Apparently the Islamic regime couldn't change a lot of things. Of course poor people also live in Iran. After watching this movie you should not get this impression that this is the life of the people there
Rating:
Summary: a beautiful , quiet story from a child's point of view
Review: Children of heaven really does show children at their innocent, honest best. When young Ali loses his sister Zahra's shoes through a mishap, they both go to lengths to hide the loss from their debt-plagued parents. Zahra goes to school in the morning with Ali's shoes, and rushes home to give the shoes to Ali so he can go to school. This film gives those of us who are lucky enough to live in more prosperous cultures good perspective: even one pair of shoes is of essential importance. Without this, the children cannot go to school.
Ali shows amazing responsibility, blowing off playing soccer with his friends so that he can keep up his charade with Zahra. The film also has beautiful moments, such as when Ali and his father tend the garden of an older man in the rich part of town.
Highly recommended: a thought-provoking view into both the world of Tehran and the world of childhood.
Rating:
Summary: Quality Viewing
Review: Yeah, I saw this film and really enjoyed it. The story is straight forward and the characters are interesting. Amir Farrokh Hashemian and Bahare Seddiqi are very convincing as the two siblings. I especially enjoyed the conversation between them in moments such as when Ali tells Zahra that he has lost her shoes. It's also good to be able to experience certain aspects of other cultures that we perhaps normally wouldn't be exposed to. It's good to see more people taking an interest in foreign films, with this one a welcome change from the many unoriginal creations from the Hollywood conveyor belt.
Rating:
Summary: More brilliant simiplicity of Iranian cinema
Review: Majid Majidi is the master of making films about ordinary people and places, and creating something eminently complicated and watchable. This deceptively simple film tells of a boy and girl from a poor home, who each have only one pair of shoes. While the little boy is at the market, returning from the cobbler's where the little sister's shoes were being repaired, he accidentally loses the shoes. Knowing that the parents are in dire straits, the boy and girl devise a scheme to share the little boys shoes, so that the parents will not find out. This simple plot could be made into a light comedy, but here it is a tale of struggle, respect, and hard work. The children are absolutely amazing, and the direction is very absorbing.
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