AllMovie

Oscar-nominated Iranian director Majid Majidi (Children of Heaven) brings another compassionate tale of childhood innocence to the screen with this touching fable. Eight-year-old talent Moshen Ramezani evokes gut-wrenching sadness as well as adoring love and spiritual connection with life, nature, and God through his vulnerable performance as the blind Mohammed. The supporting cast is impressive: Hossein Mahjub as the boy's father is despondent, abrasive, and spiritually bereft yet not unsympathetic. Pain over his own abandonment and the repressed love for his son shine through. Salime Feizi is delightful as Mohammed's "beautiful Granny," convincing and moving as a joyous beacon of love in his life. The senses are used gracefully in Majidi's work: sound and touch are vital to Mohammed's sightless world, so the director captures the staccato drill of a woodpecker, outstretched hands "catching" the winds, and tangible "reading" of river rocks as a lyrical language in the imagination of a resourceful child. Although the protagonist is blind, Majidi doesn't shortchange the audience on the diverse visuals of Iranian life and its terrain: misty forests, glorious farmland, the urban streets of Tehran, and wool dyeing with the colors of wildflowers. The Color of Paradise (1999) is a feast of raw emotion, tactile imagery, and bravura filmmaking from a part of the world too long in the dark.