REVIEW : Children of Heaven

So one of my readers recommended me to write a review on children of heaven movie (thank you for this!) , when turns out, I already watched it. But because I felt it was a long time ago, I decided to re-watched it, and it's Ramadhan anyway, this movie somehow related to its euphoria (ended up cried minutes away from iftar *sobs*).

The Synopsis

There's a reason why I put shoe image above, because, in this movie, it all started on the day when Ali lost his sister's shoes. On the day where Ali supposed to take Zahra's (Ali sister) shoes to be repaired, he ended up losing it. For most of us, I believe losing one pair of shoes is not a big deal, sure it sucks, but we can always wear another one. But unfortunately ,this is not the case for Ali and her sister. Losing the shoes means not being able to go to school because Zahra only has one pair of shoes, and impossible for her to go to school using a sandal. Oh, and by the way, they don't have the heart to tell their parents because it would be a burden as their parents are poor and struggling to buy supplies to keep their mother and newborn sibling healthy.

Out of guilt, Ali then offers her sister to wear his shoes. And because Ali's school starts in the afternoon and Zahra school starts in the morning, it give a chance for them to exchange Ali's shoe (Ali also has one pair of shoes) so they can wear the shoe alternately. As they keep doing this strategy, they encounter many obstacles on keeping the shoes safe, because if they ruin it, they both won't be able to go to school. So how they cooperate with each other to take care their valuable shoes? the movie will tell you all.

It's more than just a shoes...

Before Zahra's shoe is gone, it appeared that Zahra and Ali Relationship is just like any other siblings relationship (screamed at each other when one of them did something wrong ). Zahra was so angry that she intended to tell their parents. But as they agreed to commit to sharing shoes, suddenly they are willing to go the extra mile just so their sibling can go to school. Zahra has to run about 3 km to the exact location where she gives the shoes to her brother. As for Ali, he has to trust her sister to be on time so that he doesn't come late to school (it's more like a tag team but with a lot of burdens). As the time goes by, they treated their only shoes with compassion, they take care of it, reminded each other to take the shoes inside when it's rain outside, washed em, and wears them as careful as possible. Somehow they treated the as if it's the center of their life, that without the shoes they can't go on. And somehow, the shoes became something that they have to take care together every day.

It's all part of Allah's plan

What I love about this movie, is when Ali tries everything he could to get a new shoe for his sister. that he participate in his school's marathon and tried to win the 3rd place to get shoes as the prize. It was the run of his life, the only chance he can make up for his mistake. He was so sure that he's gonna win it, but he ended up being in the first place (with different prize). Disappointed not getting the shoes and break the bad news to Zahra, turns out Allah has a better plan.. in a right way and the right timing. (i don't want to spoil the ending)

Also sharing...

Oh didn't I tell you that their family is very poor that they barely fed themselves? but apart from that, they, still manage to share their food to the even less fortunate family from them. Their father also works to arrange beverages and food for the mosque. I mean a lot of fortunate people thinks they got a lot of things going on in their life that they forget to care for their surroundings. But what about the unfortunate ones? they barely survive their life yet they have time to care for others.

Last but not least, It's about gratitude

Beside the sibling relationship, this movie also teaches us about gratitude. That we almost take everything we have for granted every day. At home, we probably have 10 pairs of shoes but it still wasn't enough.while on the other side of the world , just to have one pair of shoes is a miracle. with too many shoes, we often not caring whether our shoes is ruin or lost because we can buy another one. while others, losing shoe means losing the chance to go to school every day , school ..education.. the only way they can get a better life in the future. Remember for every food we've eaten, every facilities that we use to make our life easier.. there's someone out there who's praying every day to have what we have. In this case, it's just as simple as a pair of shoes (well I have to tell myself too, you know what I mean).

Ok sorry for the long post, I always get excited when writing about movies. Sorry, it has to be in English because I'm on a mission to improve my writing skill, so this blog is more like my experimental platform.

Hope I can review other inspiring movies. Until then, here's some clip from the movie