In Majid Majidi’s “Children of Heaven”, released in 1997, Ali and Zahra lead viewers through the old streets of Tehran, in an adventure to solve the problem of a lost pair of shoes. For western viewers, the film offers the perfect opportunity to become acquainted with the Iranian culture and the Oriental atmosphere of the old streets which pervades many of the scenes is fascinating. The filmmakers create a realistic picture of the Iranian capital and identify both the most beautiful, and the most disturbing aspects of urban life in this country. As the film progresses, the viewers are surprised to discover that the narrow cities of the old part of the city represent only one aspect of the city, and in the new neighborhoods, Tehran looks completely different, much closer to Western cities. “City of Heaven” thus represents an immersion into modern Tehran, where city dwellers may share the same urban space, but they live in two different worlds, one which preserves a true Iranian identity and one which embraces progress and globalization.
In the first part of the film, the old part of Tehran represents an entire universe for Ali and Zahra, and consequently, for the viewers as well. The neighborhood where the children live is the home of the poor people of Tehran. Here, the streets and the buildings allow viewers to immerse into the traditional Persian style, and to witness the traditional lifestyle of the people, which revolves around religion, hard work and family life. The children’s incursions through the narrow and dusty streets of the old neighborhood seem to represent a journey into the past. The lively streets with improvised shops, water drainage channels and Oriental architecture create a picturesque atmosphere that viewers are invited to discover. The typically Islamic planning of this neighborhood is based upon practical principles. As Macionis and Parillo explain, in typical Islamic cities, the streets are very narrow, and the buildings are so close to each other, that an adult would be able to touch them on both sides at the same time (383). This creates the feeling of a closed space, from which there is no escape.
This feeling is accentuated by the fact that in most scenes where children run around their neighborhood, there is no sight of the sky. Furthermore, the state of decay of the walls, and the earthen tones of the streets, combined with its lack of plants and recreation areas create a feeling that people here are hard-working but sad. However, this feeling is contradicted by the multitudes of children playing in the courtyards. The loud voices of children playing, the call to prayer, and the colorful and ornamental style of the masjid soften the apparently harsh and rudimentary style of the buildings and streets. Moreover, Macionis and Parillo show that, “the intimacy and semi-private atmosphere of these streets were borne in on the visitor as the shade provided by the dense building pattern created cool conditions in which to linger” (383). As the action moves into the family home, the viewers become acquainted with other particularities of the traditional Iranian style. The children enter a private courtyard, with a pool in the center, where colorful fish swim.
Around the courtyard, there are several entrances to one-room apartments. Originally, he building was designed for one family. The separate entries illustrated the particularities of the Islamic architecture, where separate entrances were necessary in order to allow women to have more privacy (Macionis and Parillo 383).The entire family lives in this one room and the children therefore hear all of their parents’ conversations and understand the economic problems they face. The courtyard represents a communal space, where the women gather to clean their carpets, to do the laundry, and to complete other domestic chores. In the film, the children’s mother is introduced while fighting with the landowner over water use, while other women also seem to be engaged in the same activity (Majidi 6:21) This courtyard partially retained its initial purpose, of providing a place of interaction for the family, although in this film, the people who shared it were not related to each other. The courtyard was also essential for practical reasons, providing additional protection from heat and dust, aside from a place where women could be protected from the strangers’ gaze (Macionis and Parillo 383).
The middle of the film provides a surprising escape from this small universe, with which the viewers have already become accustomed. The action moves outside the poor neighborhood, as the father takes Ali for a journey to the center, in order to find work. The camera follows them on the city’s modern roads, which present a staggering contrast with the traditional architecture and infrastructure of the old part of the city. The city center bursts with modern architecture, featuring tall glass buildings and large green areas. Here, the large space allows for a panoramic view of the mountains and skyline. The newer sections of Teheran amaze Ali, who seems to have seen very little of this part of the city. The city seems to offer the same degree of comfort and modernity as any large city in a developed country. However, it is also anonymous to a great extent, and there is nothing in the street views to suggest an Iranian identity. Class conflict has been crucial in defining the urban metropolis, and this conflict is expressed spatially (Mennel 23). The tall buildings, the large, white houses in the Western style from the residential area emphasize the differences between the city’s poor and the rich. In early cinema, the vertical city is segmented into the upper world of the rich, and the underworld of the poor. Such fragmentation is also visible in the film, where South Tehran represents a separate world for the poor, whereas the rich live in North Tehran.
The film however argues that the new neighborhoods do not necessarily have a positive influence on people’s lives. The cities are often envisioned as spaces where “human beingsare continually subordinated to the material dimension of modernity” (Mennel 38). This means that the human dimension of cities is sometimes absent as the city itself becomes the focus in the film (Mennel 38). In “Children of Heaven”, the filmmakers present the newer parts of the city as places where people are trapped inside cars, inside their homes, and they are isolated from each other. The experiences of the young child in trying to find a gardening job demonstrate this isolation, and the feeling that the outside world is scary although its aesthetic aspect suggests the opposite. Thus, the first person that Ali and his father try to approach perceives this as a threatening act. Alireza lives isolated, with no children to play with. His loneliness determines him to ask his grandfather to offer work to the gardeners. This seems to be the case in many Islamic cities today, where the recent urban settings lack the feeling of unity which continues to pervade the old towns, Macionis and Parillo (383). The loneliness of young Alireza contrasts deeply with Ali and Zahra’s freedom on the old streets of their neighborhood, and with the cheerful games of the children who play together in the inner courtyards.
The film “Children of Heaven” allows viewers to catch a glimpse of the lively atmosphere which pervades the poor section of Tehran. Its old and decayed buildings and its narrowed streets create a small universe where people live together as a closed community. This small world is contrasted with the images of the new Tehran, characterized by modernity, prosperity and westernization. However, people here seem isolated and lonely, as if the world they created around them makes them feel threatened.
Works Cited
Children of Heaven. Dir. Majid Majidi, Perf. Amir Farrokh Hashemian andBahare Seddiqi Iran: The Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children & Young Adults 1997. Film.
Macionis, John & Parillo, Vincent. Cities and Urban Life. New York: Pearson. 2013. Print.
Mennel, Barbara. Cities and Cinema. New York: Routledge. 2008. Print.
