Ali takes his little sister Zahra's shoes to the shoemaker to be repaired, but loses them on the way home. The siblings decide to keep the predicament a secret from their parents, knowing that there is no money to buy a replacement pair and fearing that they will be punished. They devise a scheme to share Ali's sneakers: Zahra will wear them to school in the morning and hand them off to Ali at midday so he can attend afternoon classes. This uncomfortable arrangement leads to one adventure after another as they attempt to hide the plan from their parents and teachers, attend to their schoolwork and errands, and acquire a new pair of shoes for Zahra. Zahra sees the lost shoes on a schoolmate's feet, and follows her home, but the two soon become friends.
Ali enters a high-profile children's footrace in the hope of receiving the third prize of a new pair of sneakers. He accidentally places first and wins another prize instead. The film ends with Zahra finding out that she will not get a new pair of shoes, but there is a quick shot of their father's bicycle at the end of the movie that shows what appears to be the red shoes Zahra had been focusing on earlier and another pair of white sneakers, presumably for Ali, whose old sneakers were torn from so much use. The film ends with the final shot showing blisters on Ali's feet. Some versions include an epilogue revealing that Ali eventually achieves the larger-scale success of having a racing career.
This movie has showed me a side of Iran that one cannot learn about in history books. The movie portrayed life in Iran through the eyes of a little kid and the struggles he faces.The movie also showed showed different aspects of Iranian culture such as family structure and relations. The father was seen as the one responsible for providing food for the family. The little girl would help the mother with preparing food and taking care of the baby. I was also able to see the Ta'arof in Iranian culture through offering food to the old and sick neighbors, and even "pretending" to refuse money after the gardening services were offered. The father took the money only after the old man insisted on it.The wide gap between the haves and the have nots have been very beautifully potrayed..
And again the entire story revolves around one pair of lost pink colour worn out shoes..It makes us realize that each and and every one of us in the world is responsible when a kid suffers to get basic necessities of life..Many a times we throw money frivolously seldom realizing that there are million children dying from hunger with one set of clothes battling and surviving through life.Am not taking a pessimistic view of life.We have to be aware of ground realities and try contribute towards the betterment of the world.
Arre yaar!How could you watch an IRANIAN movie? You really have energy and thirst for Knowledge. :)
ReplyDeleteMy sister gave it to me..Any hw..It has subtitles.. ;-)
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