Maryam Abdallah - Bahman Ghobadi - Turtles can fly...

Critical blogging: Children, a symbol of reality

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Choosing a non Hollywood blockbuster pushes people to watch movies that are not aimed at show business, it pushes people to reflect on what is really going on in our world. Seeing how many go homeless, hungry, uneducated, abused and the list goes on, it is not surprising why many may choose to watch something entirely fictional because we can leave the movie feeling glad it's not really happening.

Bahman Ghobadi

The movie I chose to watch and learn about was 'Turtles can fly' by Bahman Ghobadi, an Iranian film maker contributing to the Iranian New Wave. Bahman Ghobadi was born in 1968 in a town called Baneh in Iranian Kurdistan. Due to the Iran-Iraq war in the 80s, Ghobadi's family moved to the provincial capital Sanandaj. Ghobadi's father was a policeman and in order to discipline his son to stay away from drugs, he urged him to partake in wrestling. Close to the wrestling ring, there was a photographer who befriended 15 year old Ghobadi. When Ghobadi's first pictures were published, his friend encouraged his talent. This was when his love for art and creation began. Coupled with his love for watching movies, Ghobadi was on the right track and he later went on to study film in Tehran however, Ghobadi felt he learnt more by being hands on and creating films rather than just studying. When Ghobadi created his first film with an 8mm camera, about the competition between Iranian and foreign cigarettes, he sent it to a festival and won some money which paid the rent for the next few months. There on, Ghobadi's mother encouraged him to make more movies and then as the saying goes, the rest is history.

Growing up as a Kurd was hard for Ghobadi. Having lived the Iran-Iraq war, he has been exposed to life of the displaced person. When Ghobadi went to Iraq to shoot 'Marooned in Iraq', he came across children who were living on the border of Iraq and Iran. He could not help it, he had to give those children a voice; and so 'Turtles can fly' was created.

The story revolves around a refugee camp homing displaced Iranian Kurds on the Turkish-Iraqi border who are waiting for the fall of Saddam Hussein. Through out the movie, a 13 year old boy called Satellite, who is known for installing satellite dishes for people to watch the news on the war. Satellite is in charge of the refugee camp children; he creates jobs for them by making them collect mines and later selling them to arms dealers. Satellite loves the children and is always concerned about making sure they are safe. The only adults in the movie are the really old and wrinkled, who depend on Satellite to translate the news. One day, Satellite falls in love with a girl named Agrin who is travelling with her armless yet clairvoyant brother Hengov and three year old blind Rega, who later turns out to be the child of Agrin after she was raped by soldiers. The movie starts off with Agrin jumping off a cliff and the remainder of the movie is told in flashback so we see the events that led to Agrin suicide.

The movie was touching and unbelievably disturbing and this was mainly due to the state of the children so for this critical assignment, I would like to focus on the characters and how they powerfully bring to life on a superficial level, the effect of war and on a deeper level, the reality of how the global community stand back and pay attention to media but are powerless to make a change.

To begin with, I want to ask you, to think about a little child in your family or neighbourhood, or a child you have seen somewhere. What were they like? Carefree? Irresponsible? Powerless? Innocent? Dependant? What did they do? Play all day? Watch cartoons? Have an afternoon nap?

Well, this is not what the Kurdish children are like. They are hard workers. They are desperate to work on mine fields in order to get some money for food; their desperation is brought out when Satellite is choosing which group of children will go to work on the elders' fields, they are all anxious for him to chose them. However, this desperation is intensified when we have Hengov pull out a mine with his mouth while closely watched by his sister. This image brings to life their futile situation; the children are aware that certain things have to be done to survive, but if they lose their life during the struggle for survival, they don't lose much as life is all they have. Unlike ordinary children, these children are in control and the elders are more dependant on them. This can be brought out through the opening of the film when the boys call out to Pashow which way their father must turn to get the picture on the television; it symbollises who is calling the shots and it is not the parents. The elders of the tribe also have to plead with Satellite to stay and translate the news; he cuts them short explaining he hasn't got all day to sit around with them but if he manages, he'll be back by sunset to translate, once again characterizing the reverse of roles, driving home the notion that the children have no one to depend on yet hope of the future lies in their hands.

Hengov, risking his life for his family

On a superficial level, the movie serves to bring about the evident suffering of the children. Primarily, these children have no parents. No parents equals no steady income, no unconditional love and security. All the children have are each other which is why they come together as a pack. This can be brought out through two different accounts, at one point, Agrin is seen feeding Hengov and Rega, bringing to life the idea that these children take care of each other because no one else will. Early in the movie, Hengov and Satellite get into a fight, and Hengov headbutts Satellite bleeding to the ground. However, when Satellite gets news from the other children that Rega, who he identifies as the brother of Hengov, lost on his own in the mine field, he risks his own life by going in to save the child. As a result, Satellite's foot is injured but the baby is safe, and that's all that matters, that they look out for each other. These dispossessed Kurdish children do not have time to get an education; the school desks are left empty while they lie on mounts while learning to fire arms and use weapons. The irony is striking when the professor (yes, he look a thousand years old too) comes and asks Satellite why the children are playing with weapons and that they need to get an education. Satellite's reply rings true when he says that the children already know how to count and that math is not going to get them far but now is the time for them to learn how to defend themselves. To prove himself, Satellite randomly asks two of the children some math questions and they reply incorrectly but the professor doesn't pick up on this, adding to the notion of the futility of the situation, it is like the blind leading the blind. This notion also reoccurs when the old men hurdled around the TV ask Satellite to translate, and Satellite replies saying that the news is telling them that it will rain tomorrow, clearly this is not true and they ask but he simply repeats that it will rain tomorrow and the elders just believe him because this is all they have, and regardless of what the news says, they probably believe their life will not get better.

But let's look a little closer at this picture. The world in Turtles can fly is too surreal. And I am absolutely sure there is a reason for this. Notice how the only one who is so carefree of the children is Rega, the blind child? Perhaps this is a contrast to show the audience the difference between children who have seen suffering and those who have not. But suffering can also be on a deeper level. I earlier said the characters of the movie symbolise society as we may know it today. To begin with, the awareness state of the children and their inability to change their fate symbollises those who may be aware of the suffering that the Kurds undergo, but not just the Kurds, but anyone who has become a war victim but they are powerless to change anything. The children's suffering due to decisions powerful countries make also symbollise how when powerful politicians make decisions, the powerless, defenseless, those weakest in society, are the ones who suffer the most. I would also like to mention again the scene when the old men hurdled around the TV ask Satellite to translate, and Satellite replies saying that the news is telling them that it will rain tomorrow, clearly this is not true and they ask but he simply repeats that it will rain tomorrow and the elders ask him a question, "what relation is rain to the war?", this brings out how society today take in the news, sometimes they don't understand what is really going on and they may question it, but in the end, they just accept what they see and hear because that is all they have to be aware of the happenings of the world. The old characters also play a part in symbollising those who are meant to be in charge but say nothing and let the affairs take place as sometimes struggling with those who are young and perhaps seem to know more than you while they lie and deceive those in charge, for this i'd refer to my earlier example of Satellite's conversation with the teacher. When Satellite speaks to the mine trader in Kurdish in hush-tones, the trader asks him why he speaks English and not Kurdish, Satellite replies that the other children believe he is speaking to an American. This scene where Satellite is somehow trying to put on an act to cover up what's really going on can also symbollise how the media can make you believe things that are not true in order to deceive or confuse you, it can also be to take you away from what really matters; if you think about it, the children don't really care if Satellite is speaking to an American, all they care is that they sell their mines and get their money, but for Satellite, his image is what matters. Rega is another symbol on his own. Apart from symbollising pure innocence, he is a symbol of the rape that Agrin had to go through. During the movie, we see that Agrin tries to get rid of Rega several times but he always escapes death and finds his way back to her. This symbollises the eternal conflict, suffering, shame and burden that Agrin has to undergo and no matter how much she may try to erase it, like it was a thing of the past, it keeps coming back to haunt her. The only way she escapes it is when she drowns Rega and jumps of the cliff; symbollising that sometimes those who suffer, suffer so deeply that their only way out may seem to be through death. Now in fear of this blog being so long, I will just touch upon one last thing that everyone may enjoy: LOVE. Satellite has the hearts for Agrin, the beautiful sister of Hengov. For her love and his satisfaction, he will do anything from jumping into a deep pond to catch her a red fish, to walking on mines to save her brother and carrying her buckets of water. This symbolises the power of desire. When those in power see something they like, they will do anything to get it, even if they risk the security of others. Why do I say risk the security of others? Well, when Satellite walks on the mine field to rescue Rega (Agrin's baby brother), he risks his life, and Shirkooh cries out saying Satellite should not go, he says this out of love, but also because if Satellite steps on a mine and dies, these children will end up homeless, without food or jobs, their lives depend on him. 



And on that notion, I would like to thank you for reading my blog, I hope I have somehow interested you to watch Turtles can fly, it is a beautiful movie, I cried at one point but there is a lot of dark humor and the children are trully sweet and inspiring.

If you would like some more information, here are links to my inspirations:

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/oct2004/ghob-o02.shtml

http://www.chris-kutschera.com/A/bahman_ghobadi.htm

http://sudiptopondering.blogspot.com/2009/06/turtles-can-fly.html

(Ghobadi's website) http://mijfilms.com/feature-films/turtles-can-fly/

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/04/20/interview_bahman_ghobadi?page=0,0