FeistyUpper
If you don't like this, we can't be friends.
Lightdeossk
Captivating movie !
Borserie
it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.
Portia Hilton
Blistering performances.
martin-fennell
An extraordinary movie. This collaboration between Iran and Iraq for me is about the human spirit. But not in a fist in the air way. It is about how humans keep going, no matter what hand they are dealt, but also about how sometimes it is just too much to go on. The film is set as it says in the beginning in " Kurdistan , Iraq : Turkish Border — a few weeks before the U.S. Iraq war." The main characters are children. all of who whom give performances so natural, that it does them a disservice to cal them performances. They don't act. They ARE. Although reading the artcle linked to below. it is clear that much of this is down to the masterful direction of Bahman Ghobadi Many of the children, are seen to have lost limbs, and in the case of one small child, his sight. But the director never asks you too feel pity for them. Is it a bleak movie, an uplifting movie, It's both. It's also pretty funny. There is one scene,which I thought the movie could have done without. It is the most suspenseful scene in the movie, where the lead character tries to save another character. I just found it a little out of place. But I'll forgive it. NOTE. I was wondering if these children were actors. It seems not. See the article at http://homemcr.org/film/turtles-can-fly/ which explains that they were relieving their own experiences. Although obviously not in all cases.
olrovin
This movie was yet another international film that really helped open my eyes to the viewpoints of others in a completely different culture. Living in America, I have always heard and learned about the Iraq war(s) from our perspective so it was very interesting to see it from the perspective of a minority group, the Kurds, who were being directly affected by the war and chaos occurring in their country. Along with being eye opening, this movie was also devastating to watch. The ending made me cry but the whole film was bordering on the edge of making you smile and making you sob. The character called Satellite was probably my favorite because of his concern for all the other children and the way he seemed so positive and optimistic. His love for Agrin was endearing and adorable and definitely added a silver lining to the whole film. His character definitely made me smile; however, when you look at the whole picture of all these orphan children with lost/distorted limbs because they spend their days digging up land mines to make money, it's really enough to make you sob. Overall, I would give this film a 3.5 out of 5 stars. I liked it a lot, but the sadness and horror definitely made me hate some parts of it just because of the pure raw emotion they created. I definitely think this is an important film for Americans of this time to see especially because of our fairly recent constant presence in Iraq.
vks_vishwa
Such movies raise the bar beyond the best. You cannot imagine the kind of acting done by the kids, the picturization done and the storyline sequentially made. Its a story about refugees and orphans living their lives under the clouds of war. People not having access to electricity, food and money. These kids find their own means to survive in such situations. It includes the life of a kid leading the whole pack being the only guy knowing a bit of English and TV operations, handful in understanding the news to the village people. A guy and his sister, only persons left from the Turkish war. Many other kids and situation fall in place. The beauty of narration cannot be expressed in words. It has to be felt through words. Its a must watch movie. Please go, watch and experience the beauty of a new different world that may never be lived or experienced by us.
Claudio Carvalho
On the Kurdish refugee camp on the Iraqi-Turkish border, the boy Satellite (Soran Ebrahim) is the leader of the kids. He commands them to clear and collect American undetonated minefields in the fields to sell them in the street market and he installs antennae for the villagers. He goes with the local leader to buy a parabolic antenna to learn the news about the eminent American invasion but nobody speaks English and Satellite that knows a couple of words is assigned to translate the Fox News. When the orphans Agrin (Avaz Latif) and her armless brother Hengov (Hiresh Feysal Rahman) and the blind toddler Riga come from Halabcheh to the camp, Satellite falls in an unrequited love for Egrin. But the girl is traumatized by a cruel raid in her home, when her parents were murdered and she was raped. She wants to leave Riga behind and travel with her brother Hengov to another place, but he does not agree with her intention. "Lakposhtha parvaz mikonand", a.k.a. "Turtles can Fly", is a heartbreaking movie with a war that is not shown on TV News where the victims are the children. The cast is formed by real refugees and is impressive the top-notch performances of the children. The title is curious since turtles lives on the water and on the land but do not fly. However, it is a metaphor since Bahman Ghobadi compares this reptile that moves from water to the land with the homeless Kurds that migrate moving forward. The fly might be a metaphor for the liberation from Saddam Hussein's regime. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Tartarugas Podem Voar" ("Turtles can Fly")
