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IMDbPro

Children of Heaven

Original title: Bacheha-Ye aseman
  • 19971997
  • PGPG
  • 1h 29m
IMDb RATING
8.2/10
74K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
5,989
78
Children of Heaven (1997)
Trailer
Play trailer1:16
1 Video
33 Photos
DramaFamilySport
After a boy loses his sister's pair of shoes, he goes on a series of adventures in order to find them. When he can't, he tries a new way to "win" a new pair.After a boy loses his sister's pair of shoes, he goes on a series of adventures in order to find them. When he can't, he tries a new way to "win" a new pair.After a boy loses his sister's pair of shoes, he goes on a series of adventures in order to find them. When he can't, he tries a new way to "win" a new pair.
IMDb RATING
8.2/10
74K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
5,989
78
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Majid Majidi
    • Writer
      • Majid Majidi
    • Stars
      • Mohammad Amir Naji
      • Amir Farrokh Hashemian
      • Bahare Seddiqi
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Majid Majidi
    • Writer
      • Majid Majidi
    • Stars
      • Mohammad Amir Naji
      • Amir Farrokh Hashemian
      • Bahare Seddiqi
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 203User reviews
    • 62Critic reviews
    • 77Metascore
    Top rated movie #179
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 13 wins & 5 nominations total

    Videos1

    Children of Heaven
    Trailer 1:16
    Children of Heaven

    Photos33

    Bahare Seddiqi stars as Zohre
    Amir Farrokh Hashemian stars as Ali
    Amir Farrokh Hashemian with director Majid Majidi
    Children of Heaven (1997)
    Children of Heaven (1997)
    Mohammad Amir Naji in Children of Heaven (1997)
    Amir Farrokh Hashemian in Children of Heaven (1997)
    Amir Farrokh Hashemian, Dariush Mokhtari, and Behzad Rafi in Children of Heaven (1997)
    Children of Heaven (1997)
    Amir Farrokh Hashemian in Children of Heaven (1997)
    Bahare Seddiqi in Children of Heaven (1997)
    Children of Heaven (1997)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Mohammad Amir Naji
    Mohammad Amir Naji
    • Ali's Father
    • (as Amir Naji)
    Amir Farrokh Hashemian
    Amir Farrokh Hashemian
    • Ali
    • (as Mir Farrokh Hashemian)
    Bahare Seddiqi
    Bahare Seddiqi
    • Zahra
    Nafise Jafar-Mohammadi
    • Roya
    Fereshte Sarabandi
    • Ali's Mother
    Kamal Mirkarimi
    • Assistant
    • (as Kamal Mir Karimi)
    Behzad Rafi
    • Trainer
    • (as Behzad Rafiee)
    Dariush Mokhtari
    • Ali's Teacher
    Mohammad-Hasan Hosseinian
    • Roya's Father
    Masume Dair
    • Roya's Mother
    Kambiz Peykarnegar
    • Race Organizer
    Hasan Roohparvari
    • Race Photographer
    Abbas-Ali Roomandi
    • Shoemaker
    Jafar Seyfollahi
    • Green Grocer
    Qolamreza Maleki
    • Salt Seller
    Zahra Mirzai
    • Zahra's Teacher
    Sara Zamani
    • Trainer
    Mohammad Haj-Hosseini
    • Mosque Servant
    • Director
      • Majid Majidi
    • Writer
      • Majid Majidi
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      First Iranian film to receive nomination for an Academy Award (Best Foreign Language Film of the Year).
    • Goofs
      When Ali and Zahra are meeting to swap shoes in the rain, we follow Zahra running through the soaking streets. When it cuts to the alley where the swap takes place, the ground is completely dry. After they split, we follow them running through a street which is watered down.
    • Quotes

      Ali: Zahra, I have good news.

      Zahra: What news?

      Ali: I am selected for the race.

      Zahra: What race?

      Ali: Long-Distance Running. The third-best runner gets a pair of new sneakers.

      Zahra: Why the third?

      Ali: The First and Second prizes are something else. If I come in third, I'll give you the sneakers.

      Zahra: But those shoes are for boys.

      Ali: I'll exchange them. I'll get a pair of girl's shoes for you.

      Zahra: What if you don't come in third?

      Ali: I'll be third for sure.

    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Message in a Bottle/My Favorite Martian/Children of Heaven/Blast from the Past/God Said, 'Ha!' (1999)

    User reviews203

    Review
    Top review
    Extraordinary Movie-making
    Majid Majidi's Children of Heaven is such an extraordinary work of movie-making that it is in a realm of movies that are able to connect with anyone who remembers (or is amidst) their childhood, regardless of what country they come from. (Note: Films that have a universal appeal aren't necessarily better than films that only appeal to people from one or two countries, but making a film with a universal appeal is no easy task.) A boy named Ali (Amir Farrokh Hashemian) loses his sister Zahra's ((Bahare Seddiqi) running shoes; Zahra threatens to tell their father (Mohammad Amir Naji). Petrified at his father's temper, Ali promises his sister that he will get his sister some new shoes as soon as possible. In the meantime, the two work out a tight shoe-switching schedule. The plot is inventive and provides some decent chuckles-good writing and comic timing. Hashemian is likable and relatable though he milks the babyish whimpering to an annoying extent. Naji is able to give us a stronger feeling that we are watching a real person on screen than any of the other actors in the film. It is not until the last ten minutes of the film, however, that we are swept up in a crazy whirlwind of emotion, jolting from despair to joy to suspense (though not in that order) and the last ten minutes can make a movie great. Majidi gives us homage to The Four Hundred Blows. The ending to Majidi's movie is somewhat similar to that of Francois Truffaut's; both movies contain the feeling of extreme desperation, but Ali has a goal in his life while Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) is boldly going nowhere. Truffaut's film concludes with brilliant ambiguity, leaving us wondering whether Doinel's last five minutes on screen were triumphant or pathetic; Majidi does something quite similar (less ambitiously) in a way I would not dream of revealing.
    helpful•57
    10
    • butterfinger
    • Oct 24, 2004

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 22, 1999 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Iran
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site
    • Language
      • Persian
    • Also known as
      • The Children of Heaven
    • Filming locations
      • Tehran, Iran
    • Production company
      • Kanun parvaresh fekri
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $180,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $933,933
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $20,100
      • Jan 24, 1999
    • Gross worldwide
      • $933,933
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 29 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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