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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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21 - 40 (sorted by date)
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A lyrical and heartbreaking reminder of the human toll of war.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
05/13/05
Rene Rodriguez
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald

A grim and less than subtle anti-war piece that doesn't tell us anything we didn't know, but does make it more visual and therefore more immediate than many might wish to see.

Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan | comment Comment
05/13/05
Jean Lowerison
Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan

A painful blend of the abuses of war (and of dictatorship) and the hope of the Kurdish people for a life free of such abuse.

Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel | comment Comment
05/12/05
Laura Kelly
Laura Kelly
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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

...the movie is, on the whole, just not that interesting.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
04/30/05
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

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

A story that renders into poetry the sad facts of survival for child victims of war.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
04/22/05
Susan Walker
Susan Walker
Toronto Star

Take Peter Pan and his "lost boys" and subject them to the worst realities facing children in wartorn Iraq, and you'll have something of the incongruous mix of whimsy and horror that is Turtles Can Fly.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
04/22/05
Jim Slotek
Jim Slotek
Jam! Movies

relentless, bleakly funny, thoroughly remarkable drama

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

Turtles Can Fly is an assured piece of artistry and craftsmanship and a pleasure to watch.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
04/22/05
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

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

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

It's a soaring achievement, without ever leaving the ground.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
04/21/05
Michael O'Sullivan
Michael O'Sullivan
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...the circumstances of [Turtles Can Fly's] children and Ghobadi's poetic presentation of them cannot fail to move.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
04/20/05
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

A well-made but harrowing and extremely downbeat coming-of-age drama.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
04/18/05
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

A story of wounded children, a devastating reminder of the costs of war.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
04/15/05
Moira MacDonald
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times

Ebrahim's expressive eyes and mobile face capture the youth in the act of strategizing.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
04/15/05
Ruthe Stein
Ruthe Stein
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A tragic yet bittersweet, simple yet spellbinding slice of life's uncertainty...an unpretentious, understated tour de force of Middle Eastern cinema.

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
04/15/05
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

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

[Ghobadi's] use of children in peril ... crosses the uneasy line between realism and overt manipulation. Still, it's impossible to deny the sheer shivery force of the film.

Full Review Source: The Stranger (Seattle, WA) | comment Comment
04/14/05
Andrew Wright
Andrew Wright
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
 
 
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