The Song of Sparrows

Karim works at an ostrich farm outside of Tehran, Iran. He leads a simple and contented life with his family in his small house, until one day when one of the ostriches runs away. Karim is blamed for the loss and is fired from the farm. Soon after, he travels to the city in order to repair his elder daughter’s hearing aid but finds himself mistaken for a motorcycle taxi driver. Thus begins his new profession: ferrying people and goods through heavy traffic. But the people and material goods that he deals with daily starts to transform Karim’s generous and honest nature, much to the distress of his wife and children. It is up to those closest to him to restore the values that he had once cherished...(synopsis taken from here)

Karim's family leads a simple but happy life together. Their tender, funny and precious family moments are beautifully captured by the director, Majid Majidi. I just love scenes like the children jostling one another to clean Karim's bike and draw on his leg cast. The children are so adorable especially Hussein.

The movie shows that you really don't need to have a lot of material possessions in order to be happy.



Though it was Reza Naji who won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Karim (in the 2008 Berlin Film Festival), I was more taken with Hamid Aghazi's Hussein. He provides most of the movie's comic moments when he stubbornly insists on cleaning up an abandoned water-storage area. This results in him being chased all over the place by his father.



Barring this one act of disobedience, Hussein and his two sisters are the most wonderful kids you'll ever come across.

Haniyeh pretends that her hearing aid is working fine so that her father need not buy her a costly new one. Hussein works hard (until his palms become calloused) to earn some money and gives the whole of his salary to his mom. And later he bought an orange juice for his father while they were waiting in the hot afternoon sun.

The above incidents and several more made Karim realise his mistakes. Mistakes that most of us fall prey to when we imagine that money can buy happiness.

In 'The World Book of Happiness' (ISBN: 978-981-275-243-7), there's a chapter which deals with this particular issue.

Ercih Kirchler, a professor of psychology at the University of Vienna, wrote that; "money has little capacity to make us happy, and that happiness gained through material wealth fades quickly".

He also said that, "happiness originates from satisfying, loving relationships and reliable and trustworthy friends; from the ability to enjoy the pleasures of life; and from a meaningful and socially relevant job".

We've been told from young that money cannot buy happiness but few of us really do believe it. I mean who doesn't want a bigger paycheck, right?

Humans are such that "if people had enough gold to fill two deep valleys, they would wish to have a third (valley)" (Hadith reported by Muslim, Bukhari).

But watching this movie will make you realise that we already have everything we need in order to be happy :)

[photos taken from: rottentomatoes.com]

The Song of Sparrows is now showing in GSC Cinemas (International Screens)