Children of Heaven, which is Iran's selection for best foreign film at the Academy Awards, is a very good movie mainly because anyone in this world can relate to the topic of family and showing love to each other no matter the living circumstances. As an Iranian film, it is definitely played safe but a film with such an universal theme and elegantly told as here should really not be missed, especially by movie-lovers.

Majid Majidi's film is about a young boy named Ali who accidentally lost his sister Zahra's shoes. But their family can ill afford to buy new shoes, Ali decides to share his shoes with his sister until he can get new ones for her and so he can avoid punishment.

The acting is pretty good, and pretty heartfelt. There is no questioning the chemistry between Amir Farrokh Hashemian as Ali and Bahare Seddiqi as Zahra. Reza Naji who plays as their father is also good as the man who is trying to do all he can to provide food for his family.

Overall, Children of Heaven is a simple film but it displays a strong message about the bond of family. There are some talented films from the Middle East and this is one of them. It's a strong film about courage and about doing what's right. My favorite scene is where the father and the son leave their poor slums as they head uptown to the rich neighborhoods. This film shows how American kids are vastly different than kids from these parts of the world.....and not exactly in a good way. This film is a little too simple for me, but there is no denying how powerful this film is. I rate this film 8/10.