The song of Sparrows is a charming parable of an unbreakable human spirit. It is one of Majid Majidi’s classic artwork that further brought him to further international attention after ‘The children of Heaven’, ‘Baran’ and ‘The color of Paradise’. The movie follows the life of a man named Karim (Reza Naji) and his family. After he loses his job as an ostrich keeper as one of his master’s ostrich runs away, what follows is his struggle to meet his livelihood by daily finding a new meager job in the city nearby. What makes this a heartwarming journey of human spirit and respect for daily struggles is his ability to find joy and happiness in moments of sorrow.
Capitalist Greed vs. Primitive Modesty
Majidi uses Karim’s character transformation from a humble ostrich rancher to a greedy businessman as a commentary on the lost morality in urban life. Majidi’s resentment of urban capitalism is similar to that of Abbas Kiarostami but unlike Kiarostami’s visual philosophical treatment he expresses his wisdom by giving his characters a life-changing lesson after which they see life through a wider perspective and so does the audience. In ‘The Song of Sparrows’ Karim is introduced as a modest ostrich rancher who is trying to arrange a hearing aid for his daughter. Meanwhile, an ostrich escapes the ranch in his absence leading him to lose his job. He travels to a nearby city in search of work where he gets an abundance of work through unplanned happenstance. Culturally shocked by the shrewdness of city people Karim slowly learns to imbibe those traits to earn more or climb the capitalistic ladder. Initially, he would find a useful thing from a dumpster to repair his house from a TV antenna to a window frame but gradually his greed overshadows his generosity as he thinks of capitalizing on everything instead of helping his neighbors in need. He storms off his house to bring back his blue door which his wife gave to the neighbors who needed it much more than he did.
The son’s parallel quest for ‘more’
At first, Karim’s son and his friends plan to clean the local reservoir for the fish to live in clean water. This act of generosity soon becomes an ambition to breed hundreds of fish and sell them to the local city. They soon dream of becoming ‘multimillionaires’ as Karim watches his quest for ‘more’ in their innocent adventure. Majid teaches both his characters a lesson to bring back their modesty. As Karim starts finding a useful dumpster in his house to sell, he falls and breaks his leg. Thus, putting all the financial pressure on his family. His son and his friends lose all their fish as the water-filled drums rupture on the way. Karim smiles at his foolishness while watching the teary-eyed kids as they slowly see their dreams fading away in front of them.
The Allegory in The Song of Sparrows: Ostrich and the Sparrows
Ostriches have been a symbol of significance in the middle east since ancient times. They are seen as holy figures of reincarnation. The escape and arrival of the ostrich on the ranch create a turning point in Karim’s life and his character as he is reincarnated into a different person over time. Majidi represents Ostrich as a messenger of God to teach Karim some wisdom in life.
Sparrows live in clusters with their fellow type and family. They represent a community. The sparrows live in the fish reservoir as well as in Karim’s house simultaneously representing a family busy in their day-to-day life, singing their own song of sorrow and struggle.
Gentle Humor
Majidi has been casting untrained actors for most of his films which reveals his fascination for realism in cinema. Thus, the natural acting makes the characters more grounded and relatable individuals than a caricature. Karim’s gullibility, stubbornness, curiosity, and greed make him a character who often ends up in unlucky situations. Majidi has a beautiful way of portraying the spiritual healing of human beings and respect for their little failings and triumphs. There are several amusing situations in the film when Karim goes on the barren fields disguising himself as an ostrich to find the escaped one. When he starts observing his clients in the city who are pretending of who they are not he learns to manipulate his truth to get more jobs in the city but often ended up in problems. Thus, leading to some organic humor.
‘Sentimentalism’ for things
In ‘The children of Heaven’ the shoes were a prized possession for the kids who accidentally lose one pair and could not afford a new one. The shoes were the symbol of love and care between the siblings. In ‘The song of Sparrows’ Karim could find many useful things from the city for his house. Similarly, his wife gave a blue door to their neighbors which had no use to them. Thus, what could be a waste for one person turned out to be useful for others.
The cinematography by Turaj Mansuri creates a contrast between the serenity and beauty of village life to the rough and hurried life of the city. The aesthetics of each frame is complemented by the background soundtrack by Hossein Alizadeh. The music further adds soul and poetic depth to the film.
Majid Majidi – The Song of Sparrows
Once explained by Majid Majidi, the movie aims to portray how ‘modernization should be at service of humanity, yet people find themselves conquered by it. The result is with each day we are becoming more distant from our human values. All our morality, friendship and beauty are becoming less important day by day’. In short how capitalization is making humans slave to the hustling economic system. With the shared similarities with Kiarostami for capitalist resentment, he differs in balancing between mainstream appeal and cinematic realism. He has the same ability as the French director Jeane Pierre Jeunet(Amelie) to attract generic audiences from all around the world of all age groups without compromising on his arthouse appeal.
