An introduction to Iranian cinema: Children of Heaven/Majid Majidi

If you are tired with the formulaic fare of both Hollywood and Bollywood, a good alternative is Iranian cinema. Subtitled DVDs of Iranian films are available across the globe, and the masters of Iranian cinema - Abbas Kiarostami and Mohsen Makhmalbaf - are among the all-time greats of world cinema. Their styles are very different from each other. Kiarostami is spare and austere, even downright minimalist in his later films, and Makhmalbaf uses melodrama in very unmelodramatic fashion. If you haven't watched foreign films too often though, it could take some time to acquire a taste for them. A good way to begin watching their films is through the films of Majid Majidi.

Children of Heaven is a simple story of an Iranian schoolboy who loses his shoes, and has to share a pair with his sister. It leads to a lot of problems in school, and the only way out is to come second place in a race, the prize for which, you guessed it right, is a pair of shoes.

You can watch it on the net at
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2085360636693346701

It's not my favourite Majidi film. I personally find the film a little manipulative in extorting emotions from you, but it's a good introduction to Majidi's other films that I really like, Colours of Paradise and Baran (Rain). But the reason I talk about it here is that I think it is one film that will hook you on to Iranian films, and make you want to see more.