(CHILDREN OF HEAVEN)
1997

June 17, 2003
DVD
Iran
Farsi
89 minutes

A Little Secret...Their Biggest Adventure. -- CHILDREN OF HEAVEN.

I agree with the critic who said that this should be the first subtitled film that you watch with children. They would be able to follow the plot pretty easily and the story has nothing offensive to worry about.

A boy picks up his little sister's shoes at the repair shop and somehow loses them on the way home. She is sad, but he promises he'll find them and in the meantime, they can share his ratty pair of formerly white sneakers. This means that after her morning classes, she must sprint down back alleys and meet him where he quickly puts them on and then sprints to his school barely making the late bell. His father is angry and behind on rent. His mother is ill and caring for a third child. The two children set out to find and recover her shoes. That's basically the plot.

The little girl is cute as a button and the boy has these huge brown eyes that fill with tears at a moment's notice. They are good kids that don't want to bother their hard-working parents. The ending is a bit too much CHARIOTS OF FIRE, but it was enjoyable enough.

**** Ebert
*** Berardinelli

8.6 Critical Consensus