Chloe Knuth Children of Heaven Majid Majidi January 22, 1999 Film Iran
How does this music, film, or art connect to your culture as well as other cultures?
The film connects to my culture since the storyline revolves around a sister and a brother who love each other dearly. In Iran, the most important thing in people’s lives are their family. This is also true in American culture and many other cultures around the world. 2. What is the central theme or message of the piece(s)? How was that evoked by the piece? The central theme was that even though people do not remember their childhood, it is filled with wonder and beauty. The main message was that people should enjoy their childhood and treasure it because the world is a wonderful place in a child’s eyes. This is evoked in the film by showing the story of a brother who loses his sister’s shoes and desperately wants to repay her by getting new shoes somehow. His childlike innocence makes the audience connect to his character and picture their own childhood.
3. What does the piece indicate about the culture of the country where the piece is from? Consider such things as family structure, gender roles, politics, economic status, education,poverty, sports, customs, foods, war, etc. The film takes place in Iran in a poverty stricken neighborhood. The streets are filled with waste and human feces. Their house is made of mud and their is only one source of water, a well in the middle of the neighborhood. The brother and sister go to school, but not together. In Iran, the schools are separated by gender. The film shows the food they eat as very minimal and mostly soups. The mother and father are extremely poor and can’t afford to buy their daughter new shoes. The mom stays home washing clothes all day and the dad goes off to work.
4. Describe the mood or thoughts (affect) evoked by the piece. Describe the devices used by the artist(s) to create this effect (i.e. compositional technique, media, use of elements and principles, etc.) The mood of the film is mostly light and funny. At certain points, like when the brother runs in a race to try to win his sister new shoes, the mood is serious. This film used children to depict the grown up people who live in Iran because Iranians do not like to filmed. It also used the shoes as a symbol for wealth and prestige because in Iran, shoes do show the rank of people. If you wear ratty, holed up shoes, this shows poverty and unintelligence. If you wear nice, clean shoes, this shows wealth and that you are of a higher class.
5. Research the historical context/significance of the piece. How does the piece “fit” into this larger/global context? This storyline follows a poor family and the struggle of a brother and sister to replace the newly repaired shoes that had been lost at the beginning of the film. Again, the shoes represent class in Iran. This has been prevalent in the history of Iran and its historical significance is the main focus point of the film. The film fits into a global context because the culture of Iran and shoes are not unlike other cultures where people value certain objects because of their symbolic nature. For example, in America, we think that people who have a nice house and wear fancy clothes are wealthy and successful, but this is not always the case. A person could have broken into a nice house and stolen fancy clothes and are not wealthy or successful. Every person in every culture wants to feel like they are of higher class and achieve this rank through materialistic things.
6. How did this experience change your world view? This film changed my views on Iranians. I now believe that even though undeveloped countries are usually deprived of wealth, that doesn't mean that they are less human than those in developed countries. These kids were unapologetic and fierce in their desire to please their family. Especially the brother, who tried numerous attempts to find his sister’s shoes but could not, so he came up with various ideas to try to get a new pair of shoes. He was driven by the love he felt for his sister. This emotion was plain to see in the film and showed me that people around the world are all driven by their love for one another.