Let me say this off the bat. I never emotionally connected with this film the way so many others have. I wanted to, I tried, but for some reason it just didn't grab me. The story revolves around the children of a Kurdish refugee camp on the Turkish Iraqi border just before the American invasion. The story is almost entirely told from the perspective of the children and showcases the difficult lives they must endure. The desperation and hopelessness that these children have grown up in is very realistically depicted. Under their leader, a kid nicknamed Satellite, they eek out a living by clearing land mines from farmers fields and selling them to local merchants. As one might expect from such a dangerous occupation many of the children are missing hands, feet, and other limbs. The central story revolves around a brother and sister who have been forced to take care of the sisters child. The child having been born as a result of her being gang raped by the soldiers that killed their family.
Though the acting by the children is very good I can't help but feel that something was missing. I saw the destitution and the sorrow on the faces of the children and yet somehow the emotions weren't translated across the medium. Perhaps it has something to do with the character of Satellite and his role as leader of the town children. While I have no doubt that such situations arise in these cases something about it just didn't ring true. It felt more like a poor child's fantasy than a reality and the often light hearted scenes of him ordering his "troops" about, which he clearly greatly enjoys,somehow poorly contrast with the sorrow we are clearly supposed to feel for these kids.
Though the acting by the children is very good I can't help but feel that something was missing. I saw the destitution and the sorrow on the faces of the children and yet somehow the emotions weren't translated across the medium. Perhaps it has something to do with the character of Satellite and his role as leader of the town children. While I have no doubt that such situations arise in these cases something about it just didn't ring true. It felt more like a poor child's fantasy than a reality and the often light hearted scenes of him ordering his "troops" about, which he clearly greatly enjoys,somehow poorly contrast with the sorrow we are clearly supposed to feel for these kids.