Recommended Family Movies

Since I consider that watching movie is one of my ways to spend my leisure time and learn English, I start collecting movies from my friends. Like a book, a movie also can give us moral understandings. I think why some people fond of watching movies is because they not only want to entertain themselves but also get a lesson even new knowledge. Sometimes, through movie, we learn science, psychology, medical term, history and definitely moral lesson.

I am not going to tell Hollywood movies which dominate this world but two highly recommended family movies made by Iranian filmmaker, Majid Majidi. These movies are Children of Heaven and The Color of Paradise. I am sure that many people have watched these movies since they are dearly distinguished. When I was watching them, I cried a lot. I have literally watched them several times and I always shed tears. How magnificent!

The first recommended family movie is Children of Heaven (1997). It tells the story of Ali, a young boy in the suburb of Teheran, Iran, who accidentally loses his sister’s pair of shoes when he is out having them repaired. The whole film focuses on the children’s difficulty to share a pair of shoes while hiding the loss from their parents who are burdened with financial problems. Zahra and Ali are sibling that colorize the conflict of the story which is sharing the same shoes after one of them coming back from school. They are very kindhearted because they don’t want to tell their parents for losing the shoes. I was very impressed by Ali’s expression. His acting precisely shows natural expressions that aim us to shed tears when seeing him. I personally think that his pitiful face adds the sadness of this film.

The ending is a bit disappointing yet touchy because Ali cannot get a new pair of shoes, a present he extremely longs for in the running competition. He is supposed to get the second winner if he wants the shoes. Unfortunately, he gets the number one with such a great effort.

I think this movie indeed deserved the academic award because the plot is profoundly great. It is actually a simple movie but very rich of moral and religious teachings. I have never found such a family movie that is very memorable except this movie. Highly recommended!

The next family movie is The Color of Paradise (1999) which is also an Iranian movie made by Majid Majidi. Like the previous one, this movie is also tearful. I cried a lot as well when I was watching it. The similarity of both movies is use of children as his main protagonist. The Color of Paradise tells the story of Mohammad, a young blind boy who is well educated and grateful. His father is widower, only see Mohammad as a burden. Mohammad is loved by his sister and his grandmother even people around him but his father cannot accept his condition so he sends him to a blind carpenter for learning. Mohammad is a very content boy. He never complains anything although being treated rude by his father. One day, when his father wants to propose a woman, he keeps Mohammad away because of feeling embarrassed of the woman.  At the end, after saving Mohammad sinking in the beach, his father realizes that he do love his son.

         Both movies are incredibly suggested to watch for any family particularly those who want to teach moral and religious values to their children. These movies could be a fascinating and worthy family entertainment at home. It is highly praised for these Iranian movies that teach us abundant lessons.