Date: 9/27/2022

Name: SAMPIANO, Ghieric James D.

Course: GECO3: The Contemporary World

Faculty: Mr Clarence G. Apostol

Week 6: Film Critique/Dyad

“Children of Heaven” Film Critique by Ghieric James D.

The wonderful Iranian film "Children of Heaven" and its companion piece, "The White Balloon",
remind one of those great Czechoslovakian films of the 1960's ("The Shop on Main Street,"
"Loves of a Blonde," etc.) in that they achieve their artistry by providing keenly observed
glimpses into the minutiae of everyday life. They also help to humanize a culture often regarded
as alien and even incomprehensible to western eyes. Above all, this magnificent film reminds us
that real drama comes not in the form of over-plotted special effects-laden extravaganzas, but
from films that examine the universal simplicities of life as we all know it. When it is distilled
through the eyes of a poet - this is when art is achieved.

"Children of Heaven" has its roots planted firmly in the neorealist tradition. Its simple story
echoes not merely the earlier "The White Balloon" but the original Italian classic, "The Bicycle
Thief." In this film, young Ali accidentally loses his sister's recently mended shoes; out of this
tale of utmost simplicity, the filmmakers take us on a fascinating tour of life in a typical Iranian
village and family. As Ali and his sister scheme to overcome this obstacle, the film touches on
any number of universal themes: the close ties of siblings united in their common bond of
avoiding often irrational parental anger; well meaning, loving parents overwhelmed with the
trials of everyday life who are often compelled to act out in ways that seem cruel to the children
who adore them; the petty viciousness with which children often strike out at each other, yet, at
the same time, the often unexpected kindness and empathy with which they also treat one
another. The film manages to keep the audience constantly engrossed in its action without once
resorting to even a smidgen of incredibility or melodrama. Beautifully directed, with a superb
soundtrack filled with heightened naturalistic noises, it is a film of many-splendored wonders, its
lyricism caught in a glimpse of soap bubbles floating around a backyard produced by two children
abandoned to their moment of incomprehensible youthful joy, its high drama found in a shoe
racing down a city sewer with a desperate young girl in tow.

The actors, children and adults alike, underplay their roles in so naturalistic a fashion that one
does not even feel they are performing at all; the film, through them, becomes a magical fabric
of life that draws the audience deep into its world.

"Children of Heaven" brilliantly demonstrates that works of art often arise from the observation
of the most seemingly mundane concerns of daily life and reminds us that this provides far more
drama than all the exploding spaceships, car chases and hyperkinetic melodrama that flood the
screen in the guise of entertainment. It certainly shows just how phony, empty and bereft of life
most American films are. Don't miss "Children of Heaven"! It is a richly rewarding experience.