My preferred choices of movies are usually not in the league of highly publicized Hollywood movies with big budgets. Back in my varsity days, I would hunt the foreign movies in Speedy stores around KL. Speedy stores used to provide wide variety of movie collections dated back to Ben Hur and Ten Commandments movie era as well as the award-winning artistic/independent movies from Italy, Brazil, Germany, France and Iran among others. Most of them are quite depressing to watch though I kind of love watching them, surprisingly. (I think this proves my weirdo side :-p) However, in my humble opinion, nothing beats the beauty and depth of post-revolution Iranian movies.
Children of Heaven was the first Iranian movie which captivated me and it still does. I remember watching it more than a dozen times without feeling bored and still managed to cry watching the touching scenes over and over again. That’s the starting point of my encounter with names such as Majid Majidi and Abbas Kiarostami (they are movie directors).
Some info from my good friend, Mr. Wiki:
"Where Is the Friend's Home? (Persian: خانه دوست کجاست؟, Khane-ye doust kodjast?) is a 1987 Iranian film directed and written by Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami. The film tells a deceptively simple account of a conscientious schoolboy's quest to return his friend's notebook in a neighboring village, since, should his friend fail to hand it in the next day, it is likely he will get expelled. Hence this film has been seen as a metaphor for the sense of civil duty, about loyalty and everyday heroics. The traditional beliefs of Iranian rural people are also shown in many parts of the movie. The film is among the top ten in the BFI list of the 50 films you should see by the age of 14."
The actors are not professionals; nevertheless I got carried away with their screen emotions successfully. As the main character, Ahmed becomes frustrated in looking for his friend; I got frustrated and tensed too. My heart goes to him throughout the movie. It might be possible that I delved into my childhood memories as well as I accompanied him in his journey. I was about his age in 1987, often felt I was not heard properly, just like Ahmed’s despair for being ignored when he was in fact serious about saving his friend. Oh Ahmed.
Apart from convincing acting and good scripts, I was especially enthralled by the story which conveys sweet innocence of a child, something that all of us used to have but gradually cast away as we grow up. The ending was sweet to the max, which leaves me pondering how wonderful life would be if that pure kindness still remains in our now tainted hearts.