Children of Heaven (Feb 8th Thurs)

I went to see this Iranian film expecting to see some extremist Muslim approach to life because of the title. I was quite surprised to see a film about childhood innocence and love in a place with little technology and many family values.
The choice of characters for the roles of the children is key to be successful in portraying true compassion and deep felt emotions in the film. I discovered that the children were not professional actors, so the star system has no use in this film. This is similar to Italian neo-realism where the plot is also very realistic to the times and culture of the country.
In the opening scene, we see a pair of hands fixing a small pair of a girl's shoes. The director immediately emphasizes the props to the audience. The shoes are the key motivation for both characters throughout the movie teaching responsibility and loyalty.
In the American society, kids are worried about getting the right video game or Barbie doll and want better toys than their friends. This film represents an unselflessness and love of children in poorer societies who see beauty in the smallest gift such as a pen. Even the boy in the wealthy part of the town, where Ali and his father do garden work, enjoys the company of Ali. Ali and his father are shut out by the upper class until a young boy has his grandfather invite them in. The adults of high society live in a bubble where the lower class is locked out from any help. The children break the barrier between the two and remind us how to help others remembering that we are all human beings.
Another instance of innoence is when the sibling are playing with the bubbles by the water outside of their home. They do not care about responsibilities or how harsh their lives are because they are enjoying that moment. The director is trying to tell audience to live in the moment because life can end anytime, represented by the mother's illness. Also, Alli uses his tears to persuade people to understand his side of the story and escape punishment.
One of the sound techniques I noticed was the emphasis sounds and echoes made by the children such as running on teh street or the writing of a pen. In reality, those noises are not as loud as they were made in the film, but they added to the props' importance.