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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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By showing image after startling image, Bahman Ghobadi makes us question everything we think we know.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
02/17/05
Jurgen Fauth
Jurgen Fauth
About.com

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

Too often makes you wish the movie theater was equipped with a fast-forward button.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
05/04/05
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

Bahman Ghobadi's new drama about Iraq's children of war shows us the scenes lurking behind the headlines and sound bites.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
04/07/05
Melinda Ennis
Melinda Ennis
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

An emotional triumph.

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

Click to read the article

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

A film whose strength derives from the stark power of its cinematic imagery.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
01/30/05
Tom Dawson
Tom Dawson
BBC

relentless, bleakly funny, thoroughly remarkable drama

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
04/22/05
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/05
Boston Phoenix

A deceptively modest and extraordinarily moving picture.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
02/06/05
Kevin Courrier
Kevin Courrier
Boxoffice Magazine

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

I wish everyone who has an opinion on the war in Iraq could see Turtles Can Fly.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
04/14/05
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

As beautifully shot, by cinematographer Shahriar Assadi, as it is sensitively written and directed and wonderfully acted.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
04/14/05
Michael Wilmington
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Superb acting and authentic details energize this rare Iran/Iraq coproduction.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
02/17/05
David Sterritt
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor

Perhaps, at this time, there's nowhere else on earth that could produce a picture of these wartime realities within the native population of Northern Iraq.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
02/04/05
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

With his third effort, Ghobadi has bridged that distance and delivered his most heartbreakingly touching and profoundly humanist film.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
04/21/05
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

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)

As real as you can get in showing war's devastations.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
02/15/05
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

The tragedy of these lives is moving, but, to some small extent, the tragedy is counterbalanced by Ghobadi in showing that somehow humanity survives in these kids

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
04/12/05
Arthur Lazere
Arthur Lazere
culturevulture.net

You'll see more accomplished films, but you won't see many that have more heartbreaking impact.

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
04/22/05
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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