This is an amazing film. To my mind, it is a fully realized cinematic work of art - one that has been carefully composed in every scene in order to provide an unique and powerful film-going experience. Without doubt, any viewer with an open heart and mind will be fully immersed into the world and lives of the young children portrayed in this movie.
As well as being a beautiful composition, 'Turtles Can Fly' is one of the strongest and most powerful anti-war movies ever made. The film is strewn with constant and dramatic images of a world at war - a massive junkyard of stacked shell casings, an arms bazaar filled with every type of small arms weapons and munitions available, children unearthing mines in a minefield, destroyed tanks with their turret being used as an elevated chair, helicopters disbursing pamphlets of American propaganda, the distribution of gas masks from the back of a truck.
And in the midst of all this, there are the children. They are the innocent victims of a world that has turned into a state of chaos and violence. The plights of children in war is always a terrible plight to consider, especially when they are parent-less and homeless - as the main characters in this movie are. Throw in a whole range of physical disabilities (children without arms, legs or sight) and you have the ingredients for a gut-wrenching discourse on the consequences of war - something the director utilizes with maximum effect.
This outer world is juxtaposed with an inner world that is dark and mysterious - children who have inner vision and prophetic sight, the strong bonds of kinship and friendship which are formed when there is little in life except each other, the bitter lessons of life that tear away the illusions that we all cherish so much (and cling to so vainly). We all cope in different ways and, if nothing else, this film is a study of how these wonderful children survive and replenish their sense of humanity. Of course, there are limits - and even the most hardiest of beings cannot withstand those horrible acts of inhumanity and injustice that some of these children had to endure. This is the tragedy which the film-makers expound to the viewer - and for this one, it has left a lasting impression.
And then there is the landscape, as much a part of the film as the characters. Hilly, stony and mostly treeless. littered with the remnants of war - at times it is almost a lunar landscape. The light in the film is leaden, cold and sullen - providing the story with a sense of doom and foreboding. It is a bleak place in which the spirits of the children can sometimes shed light into - but not always.
This movie has been made with a very clear sense of purpose and with poetic intent. It is like an arrow that has been shot truly from the heart and finds a bullseye. All praise to the film-makers - please continue to produce more movies as fine as this one is. Movies like this provide a powerful catalyst for making the world a better place. We must never, never forget that wars have human casualties - and the price is not worth paying for.
As well as being a beautiful composition, 'Turtles Can Fly' is one of the strongest and most powerful anti-war movies ever made. The film is strewn with constant and dramatic images of a world at war - a massive junkyard of stacked shell casings, an arms bazaar filled with every type of small arms weapons and munitions available, children unearthing mines in a minefield, destroyed tanks with their turret being used as an elevated chair, helicopters disbursing pamphlets of American propaganda, the distribution of gas masks from the back of a truck.
And in the midst of all this, there are the children. They are the innocent victims of a world that has turned into a state of chaos and violence. The plights of children in war is always a terrible plight to consider, especially when they are parent-less and homeless - as the main characters in this movie are. Throw in a whole range of physical disabilities (children without arms, legs or sight) and you have the ingredients for a gut-wrenching discourse on the consequences of war - something the director utilizes with maximum effect.
This outer world is juxtaposed with an inner world that is dark and mysterious - children who have inner vision and prophetic sight, the strong bonds of kinship and friendship which are formed when there is little in life except each other, the bitter lessons of life that tear away the illusions that we all cherish so much (and cling to so vainly). We all cope in different ways and, if nothing else, this film is a study of how these wonderful children survive and replenish their sense of humanity. Of course, there are limits - and even the most hardiest of beings cannot withstand those horrible acts of inhumanity and injustice that some of these children had to endure. This is the tragedy which the film-makers expound to the viewer - and for this one, it has left a lasting impression.
And then there is the landscape, as much a part of the film as the characters. Hilly, stony and mostly treeless. littered with the remnants of war - at times it is almost a lunar landscape. The light in the film is leaden, cold and sullen - providing the story with a sense of doom and foreboding. It is a bleak place in which the spirits of the children can sometimes shed light into - but not always.
This movie has been made with a very clear sense of purpose and with poetic intent. It is like an arrow that has been shot truly from the heart and finds a bullseye. All praise to the film-makers - please continue to produce more movies as fine as this one is. Movies like this provide a powerful catalyst for making the world a better place. We must never, never forget that wars have human casualties - and the price is not worth paying for.