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All-Reviews.com Movie/Video Review
Color of Paradise
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 out of 4
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Starring: Mohsen Ramezani, Hossein Mahjoub
Director: Majid Majidi
Rated: PG
RunTime: 90 Minutes
Release Date: March 2001
Genres: Drama, Foreign |
| *Also starring: | Salime Feizi, Elham Sharifi, Farahnaz Safari |
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Review by Susan Granger
3½ stars out of 4
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Majid Majidi's "Children of Heaven," about two children who
share the same well-worn pair of sneakers, received an Oscar
nomination for Best Foreign Film last year, yet it never had a
national release. However, this new entry by the Iranian film-maker is
being exhibited nationally. Mohsen Ramezani stars as Mohammed, a blind
eight year-old, who senses that his presence hinders the courtship by
his widowed father (Hossein Mahjub), a poor coal worker, of a much
younger new bride (Masoomeh Zeinti) with a bountiful dowry. Not that
the child is alone. He has a grandmother and two sisters who try to
cheer his spirits - and he spends much of the year at a special school
for the handicapped in Tehran. But the primal frustration and
emotional conflict eventually explode - on both sides. As a side note:
the child actor Mohsen Ramezani is also sightless. Which is
particularly poignant since Majid Majidi's seductively pastoral
cinematic world is splashed with vibrant color as well as the sounds
of nature. But it's what he touches and hears that makes Mohsen
recognize the message of a woodpecker, "read" the stones at the bottom
of a mountain creek, and respond to the rustle of leaves to discover
that a baby bird has fallen from its nest - right into the danger of a
cat. And you realize the lonely boy's innate courage when he carefully
climbs the tree with the chick in his pocket to place it back in its
nest. Along with "Children of Heaven," "The White Balloon," and "Taste
of Cherry," "The Color of Paradise" is a touching, memorable
contemporary Iranian film that focuses on imagery of the simple, quiet
faith and poignant innocence of children. On the Granger Movie Gauge
of 1 to 10, "The Color of Paradise" is a haunting, heart-breaking
9. It's in Farsi with English subtitles.
Copyright © 2001 Susan Granger
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