[Pet Health Admin]

Customer Review: Relentless Description of Reality and Power Of Cinematic Imagery
The strong feature debut of Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi (`Turtles Can Fly' 'Marooned in Iraq') is a simple story against the background of stark reality of the Kurds living in Iran, or I should say, in Kurdistan the area that includes south-eastern Turkey, northern Iraq, and western Iran. In this `A Time for Drunken Horses' Ghobadi a Kurd himself shows how children must survive on their own in Kurdish village, doing illegal (and highly dangerous) job of smuggling across the border between Iran and Iraq. Ayoub is a 12-year-old boy who works in the town nearby, and he takes care of his elder physically handicapped brother Madi. Madi is slowly getting worse, and Ayoub knows that his brother needs an operation. Madi has also two sisters Rojin and Ameneh, but lost his mother recently, and another sad news arrive - the death of his father on the smuggling trip. Now Ayoub must quit the school and work for his remaining family. This means Ayoub has to follow the footsteps of his father, who went across the Iran-Iraq border as smuggler. But the road is covered with snow, and the trip is risky because of the landmines and soldiers. And the employers may not be trustworthy. Even the mules have to endure very tough trek in the heavy snow (and people have to have them drink whiskey - hence the title though the director changed it to "horses"). [BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE] Following the tradition of Iranian films in which the line that divides fiction and non-fiction is blurred, Ayoub is played by real-life Kurd boy Ayoub Ahmadi, and Madi by Madi Ekhtiar-dini. They are no professional actors, but the fact works to make the film realistic, sometimes almost like documentary. But what is most impressive is the stunning beauty of the landscapes. The images are often poetic, but still never fail to capture the life of the people living there. You have never seen anything like the awe-inspiring scenes in which the smugglers walk in the snowfield with the mules carrying two huge tires strapped to their sides. Probably not every Kurdish child lives a life like this, and `Marooned in Iraq' Bahman Ghobadi's follow-up to `Drunken Horses' shows a different aspect of the life of Kurdish people (about music in particular). Thus you can see the film as political message from the unjustly treated people, but at the same time it is strong with a more universal theme about the children who must confront the hard reality of life. Either way, the film is unforgettable.
Customer Review: Heartbreaking, phenomenal
Incredible in storyline, filmography, a truly important film for people to see all over the world. Tragic and yet inspiring in subject matter--the most convincing and truly heroic effort of survival. Recommended for all--schools may particularly want this film as part of world culture/current events classes, Americans will want to see this film as a reminder that there are real human faces of sadness and hope behind the politics of nations at war.


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