Product Details

• Actors: Soran Ebrahim, Avaz Latif, Saddam Hossein Feysal, Hiresh Feysal Rahman, Abdol Rahman Karim
• Directors: Bahman Ghobadi
• Writers: Bahman Ghobadi
• Producers: Bahman Ghobadi, Abbas Ghazali, Babak Amini, Hamid Ghavami, Hamid Karim Batin Ghobadi
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: Kurdish
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• DVD Release Date: September 20, 2005
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000A7LR82
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,937 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Turtles Can Fly" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Too few films capture war from the point of view of the children who endure it--perhaps because it's awful to contemplate. But Turtles Can Fly manages to be both heartbreaking and galvanizing in its depiction of young Iraqis waiting for the U.S. Army to roll over their village on the border of Turkey. A boy called Satellite (Soran Ebrahim), so called because he knows how to hook up a satellite dish, divides his time turning himself into a big operator--he commands a small army of children who search the fields for land mines they can sell to the U.N.--and wooing a pretty but haunted girl named Agrin (Avaz Latif) whose brother has no arms but can see the future. Satellite's mixture of scheming and genuine compassion drives the movie forward; it's impossible not to become engrossed in his courage and ambition, even as the world crumbles around him. Since the U.S. has linked its fate with that troubled country, learning a little about the Iraqi people would be good for everyone involved; fortunately, Turtles Can Fly is more than just an educational opportunity. Rich humor helps balance the harrowing circumstances, making the movie a riveting experience. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

From acclaimed director Bahman Ghobadi (A Time for Drunken Horses) comes the first film shot in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Heart-wrenching as well as spirit-raising (The Hollywood Reporter), Turtles Can Fly mixes humor and tragedy to startling effect, resulting in a very timely masterpiece (TV Guide) about children struggling to survive in an endless war zone. On the Iraqi-Turkish border, enterprising 13-year-old 'satellite (Soran Ebrahim) is the de facto leader of a Kurdish village, thanks to his ability to install satellite dishes and translate news of the pending US invasion. Organizing fellow orphans into landmine-collection teams so that they can eke out a living, heis all business until the arrival of a clairvoyant boy and his quiet, beautiful sister.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Children as the Microcosm of the War on Iraq: An Astonishing Film!, October 3, 2005

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Turtles Can Fly (DVD)

'Lakposhtha hâm parvaz mikonand' (TURTLES CAN FLY) takes your breath away. Not only is the story by writer/director Bahman Ghobadi timely, it is one of the most devastatingly real examinations of the people of Iraq in the days before the American preemptive attack: it is more real because the entire story is told through the eyes of children.

The action takes place in Kurdistan, Iraq at the Turkish border. The temporary refugee camp in the hills is occupied by children who make money by gathering live mines and used shells from the military conditions under Saddam Hussein's rule. They struggle to make deals for a satellite dish so that they can provide coverage of the war for the elders (they are not allowed to watch Hussein's forbidden channels!), they form rival groups for the monetary aspects of weapons gathering, and they rely on a leader by the name of Satellite (Soran Ebrahim) who appears to be the oldest of the children. His 'associates' are the crippled boy Pashow (Saddam Hossein Feysal) able to run as fast as even Satellite on a bicycle with just one leg and a crutch; Shirkooh (Ajil Zibari) whose tears flow easily; Hengov (Hiresh Feysal Rahman) who lost his arms to the land mines and has the ability to foresee the future; and the mysterious Agrin (Avaz Latif) the sole girl who with Hengov is caring for a blind two year orphan Riga (Abdol Rahman Karim).

The children, all orphans, are on the watch for war they know will come, watch and listen for the Americans to arrive, and struggle for survival under Satellite's organized control. Agrin wishes to escape it all, pleads with Hengov to return to their home, but Hengov will not leave the child Riga. As the tension mounts tragedies occur, touching all of the children. But the manner in which the children finally observe as Hussein's statue topples and as the American troops distribute 'hopeful' fliers from helicopters, events bringing an end to their temporary refuge camp status, is heart-wrenchingly portrayed.

The film is full of passion. The young 'actors' are splendid: how Ghobadi found such children to play tough parts in such a wholly naturalistic way is a true feat of genius. This is a powerful, disturbing, yet ultimately beautiful film that deserves everyone's close attention. In Kurdish with English subtitles. Highly recommended! Grady Harp, October 05

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Trapped between Iraq and a hard (Turkish) place, May 19, 2005

By 

Chapulina R (Tovarischi Imports, USA/RUS) - See all my reviews

On the eve of the American invasion of Iraq, Kurdish refugees wait with hope and trepidation. Hope, because they have suffered so much under Saddam, trepidation because their liberation promises little improvement. Thirteen year old "Satellite", so called for his expertise installing satellite dishes, is the boss of the refugee children. Most are orphans, many are crippled by the mines which they dig up to sell to the U.N. Life is very hard and uncertain; for sport, the boldest boys taunt the Turkish soldiers manning the border posts. Satellite genuinely cares for his "kids", but has a rivalry with the "Armless Boy," a newcomer to the camp and seemingly a psychic. However, he finds the Armless Boy's pretty sister intriguing. The girl, Agrin, is aloof and haunted by horrific memories, and is not interested in Satellite. Eventually, the US forces arrive. There is no anti-American sentiment in this film, but neither are the Americans portrayed as heroic liberators. In fact, they seem oblivious to the Kurds. The images of the tanks rumbling through the villages, the grim-faced, armed soldiers jogging past the ragged, barefoot urchins are almost surreal. The refugees' hectic life continues uninterrupted by their presence. Agrin's personal drama culminates in the horror foreshadowed at the film's start. "Turtles Can Fly" has its moments of humor but it is not a feel-good film, and the fates of the characters will leave you disturbed. I recommend this film because it is a timely portrayal of current events and an intimate look into a mostly unknown culture. The joint Iraqi-Iranian film features English subtitles.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing, yet revelatory, April 29, 2005

By 

Rachel (PA, US) - See all my reviews

Turtles Can Fly was a joint Iraq- Iran production. The language spoken is Kurdish, but it has English subtitles.
The film is set in Iraqi Kurdistan, primarily in a refugee town near the Turkish border. The story follows a boy in his early teens, Satellite, so named for his ability to set up satellite dishes, a much-wanted commoditiy in Iraq preceding the US invasion. Satellite is always wanted in the local villages; he has authority even with the elders, and is a father figure to the children (many of them orphans) and finds them work, mostly digging up mines and selling them to the UN.
At the beginning of the movie, Satellite mets Agrin, a pretty but deeply troubled girl. She is accompanied by her brother, who lost both of his arms to a land mine but has the mysterious ability to see into the future. Also with them is a toddler, whose relationship to Agrin and her brother is not revealed until later.
Agrin's brother, known as the 'armless boy' has been having a series of disturbing premonitions; the war is coming closer and closer. Satellite works frantically to prepare the regugee camp for the invasion. He also attempts to befriend Agrin, and in the course of the movie we discover disturbing and troubling things about this strange family's haunted past.
Turtles Can Fly does not, as some expected, portray the United States in a negative light. However, it makes a very clear statement that our self-appointed position as liberators is skewed and false. Many scenes reinforce this; Satellite will be racing around after one tragedy or another, and the US tanks just roll past, indifferent.
This is not a feel-good movie. It is disturbing, haunting, troubling, and heart-breaking. However, it also opens a window on a culture few people know about: Iraq under Saddam, specifically, the lives of war-torn children in pre-invasion Kurdistan. This movie gives names and faces to Iraqis, and portrays the US as children on the ground saw it. It is also frequently witty and endearing.
All in all, this is an intense, eye-opening, and very alive movie. It captures war from a perspective often ignored, and gives breath to the population we hear so much about on the news. It handles the children's lives in a restrained and sometimes slightly surreal manner, but turns a far-seeing, sweeping eye on the surrounding area, and the great tides of conflict that shaped and changed a region.