Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

rastyjabarf I never seen any Kurdish movie better than this but a bit difficult understanding

hazimmer Turtles Can Fly, despite its lack of flying turtles, was a great film that I really enjoyed. Similarly to the film Innocent Voices, which I saw earlier in the year, the protagonists were all children, making the film really easy to relate to. It also made me more interested in the film, as usually I can empathize more with kids and teenagers rather than adults. I especially liked Satellite, who was rather clever and acted as a leader for the rest of the kids, and Agrid, who seemed very serious and reserved, but was actually hiding a lot under the surface. However, the situation that the kids were in was incredibly dangerous— they were removing landmines from a field daily for work, which just goes to show how war-stricken and terrible their lives were. The ending of the film also made me feel so badly for Satellite. I really didn't see the explosion coming, as I thought it would be Agrid's child who set it off and not Satellite. I also didn't understand the entire plot point with Agrid's brother. If he was intended to be psychic, or at least have premonitions, why didn't the film elaborate more on exactly what sort of powers he had? It obviously wasn't a supernatural movie, so they could've at least had more explanation as to what exactly his character arc was. That small detail didn't really bother me, though. I have to say, I really enjoyed this movie and would definitely recommend it to people who are not well- immersed in foreign films.

alexdeleonfilm TURTLES CAN FLY, Viewed at the the 2004 San Sebastian film festival, September 2006. At a Kurdish refugee camp on the Iraqi-Turkish border, a boy nicknamed "Satellite" is the leader of the kids. Their job is to clear and collect undetonated mines in the fields to sell them in the street market and he installs antennas for the TV sets in village."Turtles Can Fly" is an extremely powerful film by Kurdish-Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi. The title is a bit misleading because, though a turtle does appear for about two seconds near the end, the subject is the abject misery of pitiful war orphans, Kurdish Children, some of them badly mutilated, in a squalid tent camp on the Turkish border where they are fleeing from Sadam's persecution on the eve of the American Invasion. The running time is only 95 minutes but it felt more like 95 hours watching the unbearable suffering and incredible resilience of these beautiful kids, growing up much too fast as victims of war in a situation where death is the common denominator and survival all that really matters. The central figure, a teenage boy, is called "Kak Satellite" because he is a provider of satellite TV sets and acts as a part time interpreter of CNN for the adults, although his English is so limited that his interpretations are mostly imagination. "The Americans are coming any day" is a message of hope he repeats over and over again, but the whole area is sewn with minefields and sudden death lurks at every turn. One of the kids is armless but fights with his head to protect his little sister who is, incidentally, an incredibly beautiful child of eleven with the face of a mature movie star, and has already been raped by marauding Iraqi soldiers. The Americans finally arrive, but whether this will only bring more death, destruction and misery is a very moot question. The film is beautifully shot and these kids are definitely not professional thespians but are rather living out their reality before the cameras. Ghobadi, who is a master at handling kids, gave them a few basic ideas and told them to run with it. The story they "made up" is composed of such grim realities that it is almost too disconcerting to sit through, while at the same time brilliantly engaging. If this one doesn't take the big prize tomorrow, I for one, will be very much surprised.Ps: It won the Concha de Oro palmarès hands down by unanimous jury decision.

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.