|
THE COLOR OF PARADISE Send This Review to a Friend
The Iranian film "The Color of Paradise" Majid Majidi's sensitive story of a widower's desperation in trying to cope with the burden of caring for his blind eight-year-old son, was a gem in the 1999 New York Film Festival, and it is about time it can be found in general release. The film contrasts two emotional viewpoints, the urgent need of the boy for love and assistance and the desire of the father to recast his own life and take a new wife.
Majidi, who wrote the screenplay as well as directed, is not judgmental, although the film does lean gently toward criticism of the father as somewhat selfish, particularly through the eyes of his elderly mother, who is more attuned to the problem of her grandson. The over-all effect is poignant and reminiscent of the Italian neo-realist films of Vittorio De Sica. The acting is especially convincing, as are the settings.
Majidi previously directed the excellent "Children of Heaven," which was nominated for an Oscar. His latest is yet another example of the vitality to be found in Iranian cinema, at least in the depiction of intensely personal stories. This one can tear at your in its own controlled, understated manner. A Sony Pictures Classics release.
|