Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Python Hyena The Color of Paradise (1999): Dir: Majid Majidi / Cast: Moshen Ranmezani, Hossein Mahjub, Salameh Feyzi, Farahnaz Safari, Elham Sharifi: Beautiful foreign film that makes enquiries about God's existence. Title actually asks what colour God is? Set in Tehran where a little blind boy awaits to be picked up by his father at his special school. His father is widowed and lives with his mother on a farm and makes wages working the coal mines. He ponders the idea of abandoning his son because he fears that his son's condition will interfere with his upcoming wedding plans. Very powerful with a two way ending that can indicate God's power to punish or to show mercy. The ending can be translated to viewers either way and neither are necessarily wrong. Director Majid Majidi previously made Children of Heaven with similar themes. Strong performances by Moshen Ranmezani who lives life by feel and scent. Hossein Mahjub is convicting as his father who brings on his own trials in his quest to perfect his lifestyle. His mother loves her grandchild despite his limitations, and his driven to health issues upon the news that her son gave him away. Then there is the family her son attempts to wed into before facts surface. It all comes down to responsibility and owning up to your own choices in life. It shows how God can use trials to shape our lives to better creations. Score: 10 / 10

Ajit Tiwari When we talk about Majid Majidi, some beautiful, life varying and thought provoking movies come into the mind like Children of Heaven (1997), Baran (2001), The Song of Sparrows (2008) & The Willow Tree.I think he is one of the best directors, who have an eminent sense of cinema making, symbolism, metaphors, various shades of life and social dramatic requirement. "The Color of Paradise" is one of the best Iranian Films ever made; He demonstrates "slice of life" in a true manner which we conform every day. Many of us have a different picture of Iran in our minds because of the propaganda and less known demographics as well lifestyle.Mohammad (Mohsen Ramezani) is a blind 8-year-old boy & attends a school for the blind in Tehran. The school's summer s holidays are up and students are going home to their parents. Hashem (Hossein Mahjub), Mohammad's father, is unwilling to take him to home and the father has some alternate plan for himself.Even though the lead character is visually impaired but we see everything through his eyes and feel the pain he has. His pleasure to meet his granny and sister is heart touching.The acting is unblemished and dialogues are simply wonderful, the basic setting of the story requires a lot to explore itself and it has been done immaculately, leaving the clichés behind.The depiction of moderation and gluttony is at its uttermost level. A father who thinks that his blind son is an extra affliction to the shoulders, his argument with granny shows that he is becoming vulnerable and the repentance is going to come eventually.The cinematography is breathtaking with lush farms of Wheat, beautiful flowers; green rural Iran has been captured marvelously which gives tranquility to the eyes of the viewer. Every frame of the movie is crafted wonderfully which directly relates with any human being with different voices of nature and creatures. The symbolism used in this movie is impeccable as Mohammad puts in the infant bird to its nest, granny puts the dying fish to water, voices of creatures, negligence of turtle by the father etc, each symbol represents life and it actions.A heartrending and pleasant voyage, a must see movie.My vote 9/10

Tender-Flesh First off, I have to heartily disagree with a certain goof of a "professional" critic who has two cats and lives the life of a lonely loser when he ripped this film apart only to say its contrived plot was saved at the end by a single shot. Stuff and nonsense. Any lover of great cinema needs to see this movie.A blind boy named Mohammed awaits the arrival of his father when his school closes for a three month break. Mohammed is the last child to leave and he silently worries that his father will never arrive. When the man finally does, we learn that he feels he can no longer take care of his son due to the handicap. Feeling put-upon by his son's needs, the father tries in vain to think of ways to unload his son on someone else so he will be free to take a new bride. Father has been courting a new woman since his own wife died five years ago and he's only had the help of his own aging mother and his two young daughters to assist with Mohammed's upbringing. There are several days when Father must take Mohammed with him to work, leaving the boy to sit in the woods or by the beach while he toils at a variety of manual labor jobs. Several instances show Father hoping that his son will just wander off and disappear and he won't have to deal with him any longer. There are audible cues whenever the looming spectre of Father's selfishness rise to the surface: while Mohammed hears the piping and warble of a beautiful bird, Father hears the disjointed grumblings of some unknown animal who he obviously fears. Finally, Father takes Mohammed to see a blind carpenter in hopes the man will take the boy as an apprentice, allowing Father to remarry and not have to worry about raising a handicapped son. Though Mohammed cannot see, he is very intelligent and even excels at reading at "normal school," surpassing some of the students who have no disabilities. His father does not know this and forbids him to return to his sisters' school. While at the home of the carpenter, Mohammed cries and sulks, believing no one, not even his grandmother, loves him anymore since he's been abandoned. He even believes God has abandoned him.It would be criminal to give away the ending, so you'll just have to watch for yourself, and I believe you'll be glad you gave this film some of your time. It will give you a tangible respect for people living in a sightless world, not only by showing you the world through Mohammed's eyes/hands, but also by the excellent cinematography, a feast for all eyes. Mr. Lonely Living With Cats needs to re-watch this film, perhaps several times until he gets it right.

elkasa If you bring American "A to B" thinking to this movie, you will feel cheated when it ends. If you revel in digesting a movie, in savoring its depth, you will fall in love with Majid Majidi's work as I have (CHILDREN OF HEAVEN included).In THE COLOR OF PARADISE, a little boy brings us to that which we often take for granted, to that which he understands using sight in the tips of his fingers. Little Mohammad is enchanting, a real teacher to those impatient with discovery.Majidi, the writer/director, doesn't force an ending on you; his Iranian style of storytelling allows you to figure out the movie's meaning via hidden, deeply moving detail on the edges of breath-taking cinematography. Plot shifts are there, but its major theme is subliminal to its heightened sensitivity.I intend to watch more of Majidi's films.