Sun Children
The Directors ClubDedicated to the 152 million children worldwide coerced into illegal employment, Sun Children encapsulates a treasure-hunting film wherein the closer the characters get to the prize, the deeper they drown into the abhorrent ooze of the child-labouring hierarchy. The well-deserved winner of the “Marcello Mastroianni” award at Venice, which recognises emerging acting talent, 12-year-old Roohollah Zamani plays Ali. He’s the mischievous leader of a gang of pickpocketing bambinos working for the local crime boss, for whom a day of exploiting kids is just another day at the office. He gives Ali his first big-league task – to obtain an unknown treasure in a pipe running abreast of the local school. Determined to get the job done, the rascals fake an interest in getting educated and enrol at the school.
As the child gang’s leader, who’s also subordinate to his boss’ non-negotiable orders, Zamani evocatively juggles determination and anxiety to mould Ali’s internal conflict. If one were to pause on his face during the extremely physical scenes, wherein he’s attempting to reach the “treasure”, the two emotions would seep through the screen and perpetuate themselves on the viewer’s retina. And when one continues to watch the film, one sees the narrative conflict that the emotions form. Ali can’t evade his boss’ commands (it’s a life-sentence), but if he manages to find the treasure – he thinks – he’ll get the money to help his mother, who’s bedridden in a psychiatric hospital. The crime boss isn’t trustworthy at all, but that’s the only mother-saving financial opportunity before the 12-year-old. And Ali has to camouflage his anxiety and let his determination lead the way. Whatever the prospects.
In order not to portray a thoroughly hopeless environment, screenwriters Javidi and Majidi add a John-Keating-esque character (i.e. Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society) who – despite not being able to eradicate the bond between children and labour – supports Ali and the others emotionally and attempts to enkindle their spark for education. With this character’s presence, Sun Children subtly indicates that child labour can diminish in size once the educators integrate children from lower-class families into the school system. The two writers – perhaps having understood the issue’s infinite complexities – don’t recommend any sort of structural route toward the children’s integration (also because the film dedicates most of its screen time to Ali’s child-labour struggles solely). But Javidi and Majidi’s message is clarion. A lesson a day keeps the crime boss away.
Ultimately, however, the film falls into the category “important subject matter but familiar narrative." A child is forced into the adult world's tyrannical side, a genuine good-guy character is added for levity, and a bad guy is the single-minded tyrant who never undergoes personality metamorphosis. That’s Slumdog Millionaire, Jojo Rabbit and even the Harry Potter film series. Perhaps if the bad guy was, as a child, also subject to child labour, then another perspective of its terror would’ve been revealed, illustrating what one might become as a consequence. In this way, the theme would’ve spread its wings wider, abandoning the banal bad-guy figure, who’s just there to be tyrannical.
Nonetheless, Sun Children stands out with its beautifully acted-out lead and the good-guy character’s education-driven thematic message, delivered more subtly than in films like Society.