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Movies / On DVD / Turtles Can Fly
Turtles Can Fly

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Turtles Can Fly (2005)

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Reviews Counted:68

Fresh:61

Rotten:7

Average Rating:7.8/10

Consensus: Set in Iraq after the fall of Saddam, Turtles Can Fly is being hailed as extraordinary, moving, and lyrical.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Feb 18, 2005 Limited

Box Office: $213,047

Synopsis: "Turtles Can Fly" is the third feature from internationally acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi ("A Time For Drunken Horses"). Written, directed and produced by Ghobadi, the film features of... "Turtles Can Fly" is the third feature from internationally acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi ("A Time For Drunken Horses"). Written, directed and produced by Ghobadi, the film features of cast of local non-actor children. "Turtles Can Fly" is set in Ghobadi’s native Kurdistan on the eve of the American invasion of Iraq. Thirteen-year-old Soran (Soran Ebrahim) is known as “Satellite,” for his installation of dishes and antennae for local villages looking for news of Saddam. He is the dynamic leader of the children, organizing the dangerous but necessary sweeping and clearing of the minefields. He then arranges trade-ins for the unexploded mines. The industrious Satellite falls for an unlikely orphan (Avaz Latif), a sad-faced girl traveling with her brother Henkov (Hirsh Feyssal), who appears to have the gift of clairvoyance. The siblings are care-taking a three-year-old, whose connection to the pair is discovered as harsh truths are unveiled. The devastation to this land and its inhabitants is revealed in the matter-of-fact perspective of the children and is equally displayed with every poignant detail of its unbearable nature. The exquisitely haunting mountains play backdrop to violence and tragedy, but at the same time the heart and humor of the children is an undeniable force. "Turtles Can Fly" won the Golden Shell at San Sebastian and the Silver Bear at Chicago and is the Iranian entry to the Academy for 2004 Foreign Film consideration. -- © IFC Films [More]

Starring: Soran Ebrahim, Avaz Latif, Hirsh Feyssal

Starring: Soran Ebrahim, Avaz Latif, Hirsh Feyssal

Director: Bahman Ghobadi

Director: Bahman Ghobadi
Screenwriter: Bahman Ghobadi
Producer: Bahman Ghobadi
Composer: Houssein Alizadeh
Studio: IFC Films

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Release:

Nov 30, 1999

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Turtles Can Fly

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It's a political work, but Ghobadi's film is more in search of the common experience of humanity.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment 1 Comment
12/06/06
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Una película conmovedora, sugestiva y poética, donde gran parte de la convicción proviene de sus increíbles actores no profesionales.

Full Review Source: Uruguay Total | comment Comment
04/21/06
Enrique Buchichio
Enrique Buchichio
Uruguay Total

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Intends to let the world know something about the Kurdish people and their suffering.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment 1 Comment
11/19/05
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/26/05
AV Club
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Despite its fanciful title, Turtles Can Fly leads viewers into a slough of despond, one in which not just hope is strangled but virtually any possibility for simple human kindness.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
09/26/05
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Bahman Ghobadi works best on pain and suffering; he’s passionate about filming his people (Kurds) from the inside of the society, with the focus on their miseries

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
08/30/05
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
08/19/05
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Turtles Can Fly is humane, funny, and visually acute, but it never shies away from the ugliness that mars these innocent lives.

Full Review Source: All Movie Guide | comment Comment
08/04/05
Josh Ralske
Josh Ralske
All Movie Guide

One of the most heartbreaking, unforgettable dramas in years.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Observer | comment Comment
07/08/05
Lawrence Toppman
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
07/05/05
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

... painful, despair-filled film.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
06/29/05
Lindy T. Shepherd
Lindy T. Shepherd
Orlando Weekly

Riveting, depressing and eye-opening, Turtles Can Fly is a movie about an Iraq that the news hasn't shown us.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
06/24/05
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

Turtles Can Fly is the first feature shot in Iraq after the fall of Hussein, and writer/director Ghobadi, an Iranian, melds grimly authentic settings with a peculiar type of magic realism.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
06/24/05
Kansas City Star
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Gripping and sobering stuff.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
06/09/05
Paul Doro
Paul Doro
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

An emotional triumph.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
06/04/05
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

We realize how pitiful the situation is, how hopeless and desperate life has become for these people. No matter what we thought about Iraq, we see things a little differently.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
05/26/05
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

A welcome, even essential adjustment to the images of Iraq seen in daily news reports.

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
05/20/05
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Director Bahman Ghobadi takes us into the day-to-day despair of youngsters pinned down by war and poverty.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
05/13/05
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune
 
 
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