Majid Majidi celebrates the immediacy and essence of childhood in this delightful tale of a brother and sister who share a pair of shoes when the boy (though no fault of his own) loses his sister’s only pair. Since their parents are too poor to afford a new pair, they keep it a secret, trading them off every day in a mad rush, jumping gutters and navigating the twisting lanes to their schools and back. Then the boy hatches a plan: the third-place prize in a student footrace is a new pair of shoes, and he’s determined to take it.
The plot may smack of a Disney film, but the direction couldn’t be more different. The family scenes are delicately observed, and Majidi captures the spirit of the children perfectly: proud, emotional, petulant, sweet, and disarmingly sincere. The film has a Western-friendly framework without losing the naturalistic eye and lolling rhythm that gives the best Iranian films their richness. Even as he builds to the climactic footrace (quite unexpectedly turned into a nail-biting contest) the film continues to reveal a wealth of discreet surprises, culminating in a conclusion all the more resonant for its sublime delicacy. His efforts earned the film the honor of becoming the first Iranian feature to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film.
–Sean Axmaker
oh man… there was not a single dry eye in the room… we were watchin it together.. grown ups, teenagers and kids… the topic is so simple but the way the story is told… simply amazing… i have never seen such acting from kids.. very heart wrenching indeed… the story hit home for many of the uncles watchin it, as most of them had grown up in poverty themselves, my dad included…
the movie is in persian, with english subtitles.. which i didnt mind cuz i need subtitles neways
neways… guys… if u can.. watch it… its very much worth it!
Khawateen, if you liked this, you'll definately be interested in, 'The colour of paradise'. Its quite similiar in that its very simple and moving. Its produced by the same iranian guy, Majid Majidi. :-)
Heres the review from bbc. It was on just last week aswell.
The Colour of Paradise is a moving story from beginning to end. It focuses on Mohammad, an eight-year-old blind boy, who is still yearning for the arrival of his widower father when the summer term ends and his friends have all gone home. Once his father arrives, he takes Mohammad first to his concerned grandmother and then to a blind carpenter who finds the boy’s innate sensitivity crucial in teaching him about wood.
Mohammad’s sensitivity is, in fact, powerfully contrasted with his father’s boorish, egotistical attempts to offload him in order to prevent the socially awkward blind boy standing in the way of his planned marriage.
As usual, Majid Majidi relies mainly on non-actors, and real-life blind boy Mohsen Ramezani gives a wonderfully unfussy, natural interpretation of Mohammad. His tearful encounters with both his father and the carpenter come across as completely real.
The director is happy to linger on small details (like Mohammad trying to catch the wind from a moving bus) so as to capture the intensity of the boy experiencing the world, and there are any number of scenes which are gripped by immense - but always low-key - power. Mohammed opening his heart to the carpenter will stay with you for some time.
