Two children concoct an elaborate scheme to cover up the loss of a pair of shoes in this family drama from Iran. Ali (Mohammad Amir Naji) and Zahra (Mir Farrokh Hashemian) are a brother and sister growing up in a poor neighborhood. Ali is given the responsibility of picking up Zahra's shoes from the repair shop, since she needs them to attend school. Ali makes the mistake of setting them down outside a market, and moments later they're swiped by a beggar. Ali and Zahra are convinced that their parents will be furious when they discover the shoes have been lost, since they can't afford a new pair, so Ali gets an idea -- Zahra is scheduled to attend classes in the morning, while Ali goes to school in the afternoon. Zahra can wear Ali's sneakers to school, and she'll trade them off to Ali when he comes in for the afternoon session. They hope the scheme will work long enough to keep Zahra in school until her shoes can be found, but matters get more complicated when Ali is entered in a 4k run. Bacheha-Ye Aseman was a surprise international success, earning enthusiastic reviews around the world and winning the Grand Prix du Americas at the 1997 Montreal Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
liked it.
Director
Majid Majidi's touching children's film tells a story of innocence, heartbreak, and determination so well that it may in time be regarded as a classic of the genre. Set in Iran, the simple story triggered by a young boy's (Mir Farokh Hashemian) loss of his sister's (Baharah Seddiqi) shoes, a serious problem in their impoverished family. The children resolve to keep the shoes' disappearance a secret from their harried parents as they try to come up with a plan to replace them. After seeing so many American films in which family dysfunction is the norm, it can at first be unsettling to see a family whose members all love one other. Indeed, aside from the material loss, one of the things which causes the young boy such pain is that his young sister worships him, and yet he has failed her. Majidi understands how cataclysmic such an event can seem to a child, and although he acknowledges the presence of their parents, he wisely stays focused on the children's perspective. In the tradition of DeSica's
Bicycle Thief and closer to home to Jafar Panahi's
White Balloon, Majidi's vision of the intense pains and joys of childhood is a small gem. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide