A Story. A movie. A life.

Have you ever watched a movie and felt glad that you're alive and thankful to god that you were born as yourself? No? Then you must definately watch 'Turtles Can Fly'. I watch many movies, everyone does and when we do there are certain movies that you can't take your mind off. Not that they're disturbing, but for them being so factful. I was home alone the other night and it was 12pm approximately and I wasn't sleepy. So as usual, I turn on the tv and flip through the channels and suddenly I found something interesting!
A lover of Cinema watches all sorts of movies, all languages. Let me tell you that. So then, this Kurdish movie was coming, the movie I was talking about earlier? Turtles Can Fly. 
The movie had started way before I'd even decided to turn on the tv so I started watching the movie at a point when this little girl was working along with her armless brother, collecting landmines. 
This movie was shot in 2004, apparently when the whole Saddam Hussain controversy was going on during the war between USA and Iraq. The scene then changes to this little boy who's name is Satillite which I later found out was because of his interest in technology and also cause he fixed the TV Satillites and that his actual name was something else. He is also the leader for all the homeless refugees who under his guidance work for making land mines and accept his word as law. Everybody knows that the United States is preparing for war,and a satellite dish is the only  way to find out when this may happen. Satellite speaks a little English, which makes him all the more important. The elders frequently ask him to translate, not realizing he does not know as much as he thinks he does.The little girl's family that has newly joined the refugee also work under him.
This boys develops an interst for this girl who is rumored to be clairvoyant, and a toddler boy. 

Argin

Satellite argues with the armless boy, who knocks him down by butting him with his head, but tries to do favors for the girl, who regards him warily. Henkov is missing his arms from an accident, and supposedly has the power to predict the future and because of that, many of Satellite's children flock to him. 




The girl, Argin doesn't reciprocate rather she is quiet through out the whole movie and thats what adds that sophesticated touch to this movie. The girl is always seems as if something's suppressing her urge to express herself. She's quiet but there are a lot of things that keep going around in her head. She keeps asking her armless brother as to why they are still waiting at that place and not leaving.She looks at the little child as a burden on her. She's unable to understand why she has to take care of something that is not even hers. She keeps trying to push the baby away from her life as she thinks its not her kid but in the ending it is revealed to us that it is indeed her own son and that she had been raped a few years before.Satellite saves the child once when he was almost killed by a land mine but the second time, Argin ties it to a stone and drops it into a spring. There's a lot more about Satellite and the armless brother too but I was so engrossed in seeing the whole movie from the girl's point of view that when it ended, I didn't even realize.
In the end, because of her desire to always break free, she takes her life. Her slippers are found by her armless brother on the edge of a cliff who is too depressed as he'd also discovered the
infant's body tied to a stone in the spring moments before. (Which was done by Argin)


This movie is not something that is unusual or amazing. It is just truthful. It has certain elements in it that make it seem so real and thats what I loved about it. Innocence entwined with violence and seriousness of the whole situation just makes your heart beat at a faster rate than it usually does.This movie basically revolves around only a group of chilren, refugee children but it has so much in store to teach. It is an interesting concept that revolves around the primary pscycology of children. War-affected children. What's going on in their heads? How is it helping them deal with their previous experiences in life, how do they feel about themselves. It's so beautifully shot that for a second you just forget about yourself and are consumed into the movie. 


There are so many people suffering in this world, so many people dying. There're people trying so hard to live and we give up on little things so easily. We're always looking for an easy way out when we're aren't able to understand or realize rather that there are people for whom all the ways have been closed but they're still struggling and fighting. 
So next time you think about you and your life being a mess, just watch this movie.
And yeah, please do tell me how you feel. I'd love to know.