Rating: 
Summary: A Reflective Piece
Review: This movie is about an eight year old blind boy in Iran. As others have stated before the imagery and cinematography of this film is breath taking. I found this film to be a tool of reflection for me as to how I view disabilities. For me the two scenes that struck home the most were the scene where Mohammed pours out his heart to the blind carpenter(The little actor was flawless in this scene) and where the father gets angry at granny when she decides to leave because he sent Mohammed away. I felt that one scene really helped the viewer to understand why the father seemed so angry at Mohammed, he veiwed him as the living proof that God did not care for him (the father). I found this movie to be very touching and the ending while melodramatic-was not overly so.
Rating: 
Summary: Six Stars Minus One
Review: This movie is searingly true to its title. The beauty of the Iranian countryside, the lush colors and the heightened sound effects are indescribable. The irony of all that beauty? The main character is a blind boy. You feel the true depth of Mohammad's tragedy as he lives surrounded by paradise but unable to see it. Still, he is more connected to nature and the wonder of his remaining senses than the adults who surround him.
Or, more to the point, than his father. With every furtive look at the boy, the father, Hashem (played chillingly by Hossein Mahjub), gives the gut-wrenching impression of a parent who wants to dispose of his own child. My belly was in continual knots of fear as I watched Hashem shunt this burden out of his life and then back in again, only to invite the ultimate disaster.
My stomach didn't unknot for at least 30 minutes after the climax of the film. The climax was more frightening, to me, than the horror flicks people watch to scare themselves. It was so frightening because by that stage Mohammad had well and truly burrowed into my affections.
The redemption scene at the end of the movie is the one thing that spoils this film. I gave THE COLOR OF PARADISE six stars for superior filmmaking but took back one star for the unsatisfying and melodramatic ending.
Mohammad is played by Mohsen Ramezani with extraordinary depth. His sisters give sincere meaning to the word adorable, and the granny is precious. This movie will stick in my mind's eye for a long time to come.
Rating:
Summary: Children of Heaven is Better
Review: Children of Heaven was my first Iranian film and I absolutely loved it, so much so I had to watch The Color of Paradise (by the same director). It turned out I like The Color of Paradise OK, but I definitely prefer Children of Heaven. More slowly-paced, the Color of Paradise shows many gorgeous scenes in the Iranian countryside. It also features some excellent acting by the boy (I was particularly impressed by the scene where the boy poured his heart out to the blind carpenter). However, there are also some slow-motioned scenes which I thought were unnecessary, and the ending scene (where the light shone on the boy's hand) was perhaps a little overdone.
Rating:
Summary: A touching movie
Review: I saw this movie in the theater when it first came out in 1999, and it took my breath away. The beautiful landscapes and emotional story really pulled me into this story of a blind boy. I didn't expect much from this movie before I saw it, but I must say that after all of these years, it has remained one of my most recommended movies to friends and family.
Rating:
Summary: Reaching Out for God
Review: This is one of the most moving films I have ever seen. The most shattering moment is when Mohammad pours out his anguished heart to the blind carpenter, a scene which is alone worth the purchase price of the DVD. It is an overpowering revelation spoken with such obviously authentic emotion there can be no doubt that Ramezani, a real-life blind boy, is speaking as himself. His words flow unbroken and seemingly unscripted, choked out through tears that evoke our own.But the pity we feel for Ramezani is also self-pity, for he distills mankind's philosophic/religious quest into a few thoughts whose larger relevance is universal. Referring to blind people, he asks despairingly: If God loves us, then why did he make us blind? It is a question mankind has been asking, in various forms, since the dawn of monotheistic religion. Mohammad's answer, as simple as it is moving, is to "reach out everywhere for God" until "the day my hands touch Him" - which is what we have been seeing him do all through this sublime and unforgettable film.
Rating:
Summary: Very sensitive
Review: Iranian filmmakers are always going to have a hard time competing with Hollywood in the West. But with "A Color of Paradise", director Majid Majidi (acclaimed and best known for "The Children of Heaven", a story of a brother and sister who share the same pair of shoes) has produced a film that in content, themes and beauty makes a great deal of modern blockbusters look nasty and expensive. In Arabic (with English subtitles), it's the story of eight-year old Mohammad, a blind boy who attends a school for the blind in Tehran. When the school breaks for the summer months, Mohammad's father is the last to pick him up, even then only after trying to have the school keep the boy. His reasons become obvious after he retreats to his home in the Iranian countryside: taking care of his son is a burden in his quest to win the dowry and the hand of a local woman in marriage, and his son is a threat to his own future well-being. As Mohammad enjoys life in the picturesque countryside with his two sisters and grandmother, he is oblivious to his father's plans to get rid of him. The movie develops a sharp contrast between the boy and his father: despite the fact that he can see, his father is caught up in blind selfishness where he cares only about himself; Despite his blindness, Mohammad "sees" the beauty of life, and is full of wonder at the sounds of birds and the magnificence of creation. As the blind boy reads the Braille alphabet in nature and reaches out to its helpless creatures, it becomes evident that the abandoned baby bird he rescues, as well as the trapped fish and overturned turtle we see are really metaphors of Mohammad's own helplessness before his father. The boy's grandmother is a quiet figure, but she sees both her blind grandson's worth and her son's moral corruption. But can anything save Mohammad's father from his own selfishness? He's already lost his first wife, but now his selfishness threatens to make him lose his mother, his son, and even his future wife. The story switches gears towards the conclusion with some tense drama and action scenes revolving around a broken bridge and a raging river. The stunning ending features a moving closing scene that leaves open lots of questions and is sure to create lots of discussion among viewers. "Color of Paradise" may lack the big budgets and spectacular effects available to Hollywood - and at times it shows - but on the whole this story has a gentle and poignant beauty that touches the heart. There are many in Western society who have the eyes of Mohammad's father, yet share his inner blindness. For such "seeing" people and for us all, this is a "must-see" movie that may change the way you look at others and at the world. - GODLY GADFLY
Rating:
Summary: Tear Jerker!!!!
Review: This is quite possibly the best movie I have ever had the privilege of viewing. I have watched it 5 times and am moved beyond words each time. Prepare yourself to be moved into a different world where little things mean the most. Also, keep plenty of Kleenex around-you'll definitely need it! Thanks Majid Majidi!! I eagerly await your next great treasure.
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