'Turtles Can Fly' tells the story of an entrepreneurial teenage Iraqi Kurd during the time of the second Gulf war. The performances, including many from a cast including real amputee mine victims, are good; but the characters aren't innately that likable, and there's not a lot of conventional plot, so much of the movie dragged for me. The last third is clearly the best, in which the film eschews the promised prospect of a conventional romantic ending to tell a harsher story, one that is however completely consistent with the nature of the reality that has been depicted. I found this portion powerful and shocking; and a strong reminder of the terrible human (and dehumanising) cost of years of ongoing conflict.
Review of Turtles Can Fly
