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Iranian filmmakers for long have thrived on their unmatched ability to reflect upon their times through the eyes of their children. Majidi is perhaps the finest examples of exploring the issue through the viewpoint of the children who live it, because they are perhaps the only ones who see the world for what it is. They don’t judge, they observe. They see it, and tell it like it is. In the same vein, “Turtles Can Fly” matches if not betters the precedent set by Iranian masters.

Set in the Iraqi-Turkish border, Bahman Ghobadi showcases the lives of Kurdish refugees during the days leading up to the US invasion and the removal of Saddam Hussein from power. A young boy known across all the surrounding villages as Satellite (because of his ability to install satellite dishes), holds himself responsible for the well-being of all the orphaned children in the camp. He finds them work, bargains for their pay, and ensures their safety. He delegates his team everyday to go to farmlands and clear out unexploded land mines, which he later sells at the weapons market. And then he meets a beautiful girl with a mysterious past.

Ghobadi’s sensitivity to the lives of these children is simply heart-wrenching. The images he captures are unforgettable. Unforgettable because he shows their lives so matter of factly, that we watch shocked. On one hand, children pull landmines out of the ground like they are picking fallen mangoes, and on the other, they are forced to deal with issues and dillemmas no child should ever have to worry about. But they do, and do so as if they have accepted it as part of their daily lives. Some have dreams and aspirations, some just are content getting through the day. In another scene Satellite takes the mines to a weapons market which sells every killing machine known to man like vegetables were being sold on the street.

The dialog is laced with subtle charm, and is so brilliant, that much of what is said lies between the lines. The performances are so real, sometimes it doesn’t even feel like you are watching a work of fiction. Perhaps because pretty much the entire cast is comprised of non-professional actors, some of the children who even actually lived in those refugee camps.

The film is melancholy in a way, yet hopeful, yet frightful. Ghobadi calls for urgent action through the story he tells, but never does he get in your face about it. He captures life in the breathtaking and seemingly serene landscape as it is, and we unearth the horrors of the world we live in, through the stories and journeys of the children. After a long time, I was elated at watching a film that I didn’t necessarily have to break down to enjoy. I could simply let it absorb me. “Turtles Can Fly” is exemplary, unforgettable cinema.

P.S. I want to thank Krsn Kavita Kasturi for posting the Bahman Ghobadi interview earlier in April. A week later I was browsing through my favorite store Amoeba trying to figure out what DVD to spend a gift voucher on and lo and behold, “Turtles Can Fly” found me. The interview with Bahman Ghobadi can be found at http://passionforcinema.com/interview-with-bahman-ghobadi-exclusive-for-pfc/

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