Customer Reviews

Time for Drunken Horses [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a film with no noticable special effects, just people, places, and cameras. Basically, a two brothers and two sisters are left orphaned when their father dies in a smuggling incident (their mother died before the film began). Their aunt and uncle help arrange a marriage for the oldest sister, with a Kurdish family across the border in Iraq. They assume that this family will take the oldest brother, who is severely mentally and physically disabled. They don't, and the younger brother and sister try to scrape and save money to get him an operation so that he will live a little longer.

The name of the film comes from the fact that the conditions in the mountains are so bad that the smugglers have to get the mules drunk so they'll go.

This movie ends in uncertainty, rather than having the tidy plot and finish so common in American movies. I highly recommend it.

The strong feature debut of Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi (`Turtles Can Fly' 'Marooned in Iraq') is a simple story against the background of stark reality of the Kurds living in Iran, or I should say, in Kurdistan the area that includes south-eastern Turkey, northern Iraq, and western Iran. In this `A Time for Drunken Horses' Ghobadi a Kurd himself shows how children must survive on their own in Kurdish village, doing illegal (and highly dangerous) job of smuggling across the border between Iran and Iraq.

Ayoub is a 12-year-old boy who works in the town nearby, and he takes care of his elder physically handicapped brother Madi. Madi is slowly getting worse, and Ayoub knows that his brother needs an operation. Madi has also two sisters Rojin and Ameneh, but lost his mother recently, and another sad news arrive - the death of his father on the smuggling trip.

Now Ayoub must quit the school and work for his remaining family. This means Ayoub has to follow the footsteps of his father, who went across the Iran-Iraq border as smuggler. But the road is covered with snow, and the trip is risky because of the landmines and soldiers. And the employers may not be trustworthy. Even the mules have to endure very tough trek in the heavy snow (and people have to have them drink whiskey - hence the title though the director changed it to "horses").

[BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE] Following the tradition of Iranian films in which the line that divides fiction and non-fiction is blurred, Ayoub is played by real-life Kurd boy Ayoub Ahmadi, and Madi by Madi Ekhtiar-dini. They are no professional actors, but the fact works to make the film realistic, sometimes almost like documentary. But what is most impressive is the stunning beauty of the landscapes. The images are often poetic, but still never fail to capture the life of the people living there. You have never seen anything like the awe-inspiring scenes in which the smugglers walk in the snowfield with the mules carrying two huge tires strapped to their sides.

Probably not every Kurdish child lives a life like this, and `Marooned in Iraq' Bahman Ghobadi's follow-up to `Drunken Horses' shows a different aspect of the life of Kurdish people (about music in particular). Thus you can see the film as political message from the unjustly treated people, but at the same time it is strong with a more universal theme about the children who must confront the hard reality of life. Either way, the film is unforgettable.

The unimaginable struggle of orphaned Kurdish children living near the Iran-Iraq border is somewhat fictionalized in a story of their involvement in various smuggling scams in which they are routinely cheated of their compensation. Harrowing scenes of trying to roll huge truck tires over a snowy mountain under conditions so appalling that the mules and horses have to be fed whisky to get them to work. Director Bahman Ghobadi has fashioned an extraordinary 80-minute slice of life that refuses to be dismissed or forgotten by anyone who experiences it. Peter Bradshaw of UK's The Guardian says, "...this is a film with its own unflinching gaze, a film that makes children bear the burden of an existence too much for any adult. The pain and aftermath of war is painted here with indelible shades of pain.

"A Time for Drunken Horses" is a stunning neorealist essay, comparable to the post-war Italian classics. Why is this film not available as a DVD?!

Where to begin? Honestly, I had to pause this film a few times as I really felt the intensity of the struggle and pain by these children. The stark reality was presented with amazing filmography and I wonder if these kids are actors or really live this life? How does one make a film like this where the viewer cannot tell whether this is daily life or depicted for film? By the end of this, I felt worn out with the emotion I felt for these siblings whose love for each other was truly touching. This is an instance where words fail me. Amazing film.

I've been dying to own this film on DVD for a decade, and it's finally out! Unfortunately, it's a zero-effort affair, with no extras at all, a problematic transfer, and huge subtitles burned onto the picture. The video clearly came from a PAL transfer, and while it's quite crisp and clear, there's jitter from the difference in frame rates. (Seriously, what is this, 1997??)

The film is an unflinching achievement, and is more than worth putting up with the crappy disc, but I am pretty unhappy.

Incredible in storyline, filmography, a truly important film for people to see all over the world. Tragic and yet inspiring in subject matter--the most convincing and truly heroic effort of survival. Recommended for all--schools may particularly want this film as part of world culture/current events classes, Americans will want to see this film as a reminder that there are real human faces of sadness and hope behind the politics of nations at war.

This is film that requires patience and close attention to appreciate. It's definitely not for everyone, but those who enjoy obscure little gems will want to give this one a look. It took me a while to understand the plot, and then my interest in the movie increased significantly.

As others have commented, the film provides a candid glimpse of the austere, dangerous life that many Kurds in northern Iraq must endure. This is a lifestyle that will amaze and startle most viewers who live in developed countries.

Without spoiling the plot, I'll simply state that this is a film of family love and sacrifice that will touch your heart. Just remember that the story doesn't follow the typical Hollywood formula.

Be patient and ENJOY!

I'm am NOT the type of person who constantly wants escapist films with happy endings, nor do I flinch from depictions of poverty and hardship.

But -- at the risk of sounding typically "American" and shallow (although the two are not necessarily synonymous)-- for me this movie didn't have much substance or purpose other than showing how hard life is for the Kurds in Iran. As a glimpse into another culture, it was interesting. As a dramatic film, it was dismal and empty and almost too manipulatively pathetic.

Naturally, I applaud the director's first effort at raising awareness of his people, but I look forward to his maturing as a film maker.

This film garners a lot of praise in film circles, but I wonder if it isn't more a result of its novelty as the first Kurdish feature film than of anything that actually happens on screen.
Though a decent depiction and sympathetic portrayal of the bleak surroundings and life of a community of Iranian Kurds, the film is essentially similar to a lot of work that Majid Majidi has done, though it lacks his cinematic flair and storytelling skill. Surprisingly, for an amateur cast, the acting is pretty good (compare this with the abysmal acting in the vastly overrated film "Kandahar" by Mohsen Makhmalbaf), and the camera work is not bad, but again, there is nothing particularly novel or interesting about this film other than that is Kurdish. There is something almost patronizing about the praise that has been heaped on this film. It is as if no matter what a Kurdish director produces, it is going to be praised for its very existence, not as a work of cinema in and of itself. I personally think Bahman Ghobadi could have done a better job, and hopefully he will attempt to depict Kurdish life in a more dynamic and unique way in his next film.