Release Date: April 3, 2009

(out of 4)

What better way to get to know the gentle and simple people of Iran than to watch the gentle and simple film "The Song of Sparrows." This foreign language import revels in simple straightforward narrative of an Iranian family narrowly getting by economically while residing in a rural village where kinship amongst neighbors is at least tight. These are people that survive on the frugal necessities. Yet like any family anywhere, the idea of bringing finer materialism into the household is tempting but equally corrupting of one’s moral foundation.

Woes befall on Karim (Reza Naji) from the beginning – dilemmas that would appear small to most American families – but decisively a crisis to his family. Karim’s daughter Haniyeh (Shabnam Akhlaqhi) needs a new hearing aid after her current one is irrevocably damaged after falling into sludge (damn younger brothers!) and the new one will cost a bundle. Karim is an ostrich wrangler who is fired from his job when one of the birds escapes in the barren valley. It’s not that Karim had medical insurance to cover his daughter’s hearing aid anyway, ahem, he’s going to have find a new way to make money fast. The daughter is a student with a bright future ahead of her and she definitely needs her hearing aid before her exams next month.

Reacting on the advice to shop for an aid on the black market in the hectic city of Tehran, our family man hero Karim lucks onto something quite unexpected. While pit-stopping on his motorbike, a city dweller mistakes him for a cab driver. Unlike our country, many cab drivers are on motorbike transporting single passengers in this city. Carrying on with the charade Karim finds that he is making more money than he ever has before. One delivery gig has Karim carting a mini-refrigerator on his back and when he gets lost on the way to his destination, Karim is malignly brings the fridge back home to his family. Karim’s wife Narges (Maryam Akbari) begins seeing a difference in her husband’s demeanor and becomes worried for his well-being.

Karim’s pre-teen boys are trying to bring home more money for the family (so dad doesn’t have to work so hard) by peddling flowers and by a scheme to breed and sell goldfish. To raise the fish this requires the boys to clean out the same water well full of sludge where Haniyeh broke her hearing aid, and the bad omen of the well outrages Karim who forbids them to mess around with the well. The boys do not listen to their father even if in their hearts they have the intention to contribute to the family. Karim wants to be respected as the sole-provider of his family and wants it known that all financial burdens can be dependably solved by him. If Karim has a fault it’s that his pride is overstuffed.

During this newfound obsession with new materialism and its linkage to residence renovation, the journey forward for Karim ultimately puts progress on backwards. Filmmaker Majid Majidi (“Children of Heaven”) demonstrates that Karim’s shortcuts do not pay off in the long run and quick-fix schemes are not guarantees. The story permeates with a sense of karma in how a good man’s tumble to commit immoral acts eventually gets the better of him. Majidi underlines this with the symbolic shot of a combustible water bucket. But Karim’s need to overwork also meant neglecting family.

Even during its bleakest moments, Majidi lets us know this is a movie about the love of family and the care that goes into looking out for dad, mom, brother, sister, etc. This is a cordially embracing film that ends on an uplifting note as we observe Karim’s spirit being cleansed by simple acts of brotherly kindness. As well as the homecoming of a mischievous ostrich, a symbolic moment exists before the final fade-out as man and ostrich, both having been similarly tested, exchange knowing looks. This is an enormously touching film.