If history has thought us one thing - it is that - War is almost never an answer to anything.! I picked up this movie last year at the "just returned" counter of the library because 1) The front cover had silhouettes of kids skipping merrily into a glowing yellow-orange horizon 2) the back cover had a picture of a child perched atop the barrel of a tank addressing a group of kids 3) The DVD had a host of superlatives printed on the cover
"Winner, Golden Shell Award @ 52nd San Sebastian Film Festival"
"Astonishing performances" - The guardian
"Extraordinarily moving" - Boxoffice
"Unforgettable" - Newsweek
"Heartbreaking", "belongs on movie lovers’ must-see list", "Powerful" - New York Post
"Excellent. Rarely does a film feel so urgent" - Indiewire
"Winner, Peace Film Award 55th Berlin International Film Festival"
I had to watch it. and boy oh boy. was I moved or what!
Children are such wonderful beings - They know how to make the best use of whats available at hand. Because they do not know the difference between a good and a bad life, they live and enjoy the life in any situation they are placed in. Untouched and uncorrupted by life, their feelings are very primal and instinct driven~ This is probably why superlatives such as "Astonishing performances" and "Extraordinarily moving" were used to describe this movie.
War is bad for everyone. But it can have such severe and lasting effect on a young child’s impressionable mind and when the atrocities of a war are inflicted on a child, the effects can be devastating~ This is probably why superlatives such as "Heartbreaking" and "Urgent" were used to describe this movie.
Set on the Iraqi-Turkish border, Lakposhtha parvaz mikonand (Turtles can fly in Kurdish) revolves around children living in a Kurdish village that has been severely affected by the clouds of an impending US invasion. Under Saddam Hussein’s regime, the village has been cut-off from news feeds. The locals are left clueless and this creates a need to get a Satellite dish to get the coveted news feed.
Man: "Isn’t the Satellite illegal?"
Boy: "No, only the sexy channels are illegal, the news channels are ok"
The boy is a 13 year old who can speak english and is the de facto leader of the kids. He helps organise the local kids to clear the village fields of land mines and helps the kids earn a living by selling the collected mines. He can also install a satellite dish! Needless to say, he is in popular demand in this village when the people want to know the news - he earns the nickname "Satellite".
Man: "Please don’t turn on the sexy channels in front of the Governor"
TV channels being switched
Man:(anxiously) "Change it, quick! I told you not to show the sexy channels"
Boy:(gaping at the TV with a content smile) "I have to go thru each channel to get to the news channel"
The local kids worship Satellite and he is like a "Don" to them - his word is their command! Satellite’s authority is challenged when an armless boy comes to their village and forms his own land mine clearance team. Things get humorously complicated when Satellite grows feelings in his adolescent heart for the armless boy’s young and mysterious sister who carries a squint eyed child with her. The tale is further twisted when during a trip to the town to buy a Satellite dish, our hero discovers the armless boy can predict the future. The enterprising kid sees this as an opportunity to further strengthen his market value in the eyes of the village folks by utilizing the armless boy’s gift for his own benefit:-)
Will Satellite get a Satellite for his village?
Can Satellite exploit the armless boy’s future predicting talent for his benefit?
Will he be able to woo the beautiful young girl?
Who is the squint eyed boy and why is he a squint?
How did the armless boy lose his arms?
Will I reveal the answers in this review?
Soran Ebrahim is the hero of this movie - Satellite
Avaz Latif is Agrin, the young beauty who captures Satellite’s adolescent heart
Saddam Hossein Feysal is Pashow - He is Satellite’s faithful aide and will do anything for his Godfather
Hiresh Feysal Rahman is Hengov - the future telling armless boy
The movie shows the harsh reality of the effects of war on children who are seemingly oblivious to the fact that their surroundings are completely unfit for living. They carry on with their merry lives and are content skipping their way to pick land mines from fields so the land can once again be fit to be tilled!
What gives people the right to put fellow human beings thru such misery? Can people who inflict such implicit cruelty to so many people in general be fit to be called humans? If this is what people go thru in a war zone, is a war the right means to any ends? If a child goes missing in a developed country, an amber alert is issued on the internet and the television - Is it ok for a child to die in a war simply because he/she was born in Afghanistan or Iraq or Kashmir or Africa? If religion and development teach us to be so inhuman, then is it better to be an atheist or to remain under developed to retain our humanity?
These are some of the questions I asked myself when I was watching this movie. I feel its only apt to add one more superlative to this movie - "Thought-provoking"!
Before teens are given a license to drive, they are made to watch videos that show accidents and car crashes to understand the necessity of safe driving and the importance of wearing seat-belts. The program is very effective - I feel before embarking on a war, the people who decide to go to war must be forced to watch this and other such movies to better understand the effects of a war on the people of the region where the war will be fought. It could be very effective in changing their minds and giving peace another shot.
The performances given by the children cannot be called acting as all the child actors in this movie were actual refugees. They were simply being themselves and adjusting to their surroundings, even in the time of war. The director simply had to have been there with a camera in his hands.
Written and directed by Bahman Ghobadi, Turtles can fly is the first film shot in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein - and it is a must see for everyone. It will leave a lasting imprint in your heart and on your mind!
For a complete list of awards, please visit https://imdb.com/title/tt0424227/awards
IMDB also revealed that this movie was IRAN’s entry as Best Foreign Film for the 2004 Oscars.
10/10 - nothing less! It’s place is right up there with movies like Schindler’s list, Life is beautiful and The Pianist.
! Spike!
Footnote: This review is dedicated to all my female friends on MS - Wish you a very happy International Women’s Day! I also hope the necessity of celebrating such a day soon becomes non-existent!