By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Majid Majidi
Starring: Ali Nassirian | Javad Ezati | Roohollah Zamani | Shamila Shirzad
Original language title: Khorshid
Country: iran
Year: 2021
Running time: 99
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11767722/reference
Michael says: “Belmont World Film Festival did a great job assembling their virtual film festival this year. They screened several high profile international films, and did so for a full week, running from March through April. Gave plenty of opportunities to see some great films. I was thrilled to see that they were screening the latest release by Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi, responsible for some favorites including THE COLOR OF PARADISE and BARAN. With SUN CHILDREN, which Majidi dedicates to the 152 million children forced into child labor, he offers a surprisingly energetic, yet ultimately sobering film that features so many plot threads it’s hard to keep track of them all.
“Ali is a twelve-year-old boy who runs with his posse, and guides them through the ever-shifting, and dangerous landscape of the streets of Tehran. All four boys have parents who are either incarcerated, drunk, dead, or ‘absent’ and get by working at an outfit that repurposes the rubber from tires they steal. When a local pigeon-loving, crusty gangster offers Ali a deal after the boy is discovered to have stolen one of his prized birds, the boys find themselves trying to enroll in the Sun School, a school for street kids. Apparently there is some sort of treasure buried under the cemetery next door, and the boys are tasked with finding a subterranean tunnel that will connect the basement of the school to the treasure. Sounds far-fetched, but Ali and his boys cling to the idea this treasure as if it’s the holy grail.
“From there we are introduced briefly to the challenges faced by each of the boys. Ali’s mother is institutionalized and won’t be released until he has a home he can bring her to. Another boy is an Afghani refugees, with a sister who shares a guarded yet mutual crush on Ali. A third boy flourishes in school when he discovers his talent for cutting tile makes him a natural for learning maths, and the final boy surprises everyone with heretofore unknown basketball skills, and a drunken lout of a father. The school’s not in such good shape either. After a fun scene where the boys beg to be enrolled into the school, only to be thrown out by the headmaster, they are taken in by the handsome, altruistic Vice-Principal, Rafie, who is our moral center, and if the film had been made in Hollywood, the ultimate hero of the tale (since it wasn’t, Rafie is ultimately unable to turn things around for good…) The school is having trouble raising the funds it needs to stay open, and Rafie learns from the boys that he can’t just idly stand by and ignore such things as police indifference.This film’s got a little bit of everything. There are rooftop chases, incipient, adolescent romance, family drama, a whopper of a heist, and dark suspense, as the tunnel to the cemetery doesn’t quiet go all the way, and the boys are forced to dig through the earth and sewers to find their ultimate goal.
“Majidi and his cinemtographer Hooman Behmanesh, make use of some gorgeous visuals, pigeons spiraling into the air, or backpacks being flung over a wall, but they don’t shy away from the filthy tunnels and poverty-stricken neighborhoods of Tehran. The acting is fairly hit and miss, although Javad Ezati puts in a understated performance as Rafie, Ali Nassirian is cooly menacing as Hashem, the gangster, and Shamila Shirzad, as Ali’s burgeoning love interest, Zara, steals every scene she is in. And the screenplay is well written, but perhaps just a little overstuffed. Interesting plot lines are introduced, but then dropped for lack of space to explore. I was slightly surprised, but actually pleased, that the film did not have the upbeat ending to match much of the rest of the film. In fact, about 80% of the way in, everything starts to unravel, and there is no heroic teacher around to come in and save the day. When Hashem’s ‘treasure’ is finally discovered, its a stunningly devastating moment for Ali… and says so much about the state of Iranian poverty today. 4 cats