Review of Turtles Can Fly (2004) by Jason Y — 24 May 2005

[font=Century Gothic]"Turtles Can Fly" starts out in a Kurdish refugee camp on the border of Iraq and Turkey, just before the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. One kid nicknamed Satellite, for his technical proficiency, is about the only youngster not only fully intact but also wearing glasses and riding a bicycle. He is helping to install television antennae, so village elders can watch news of the impending invasion but not any prohibited channels. Eventually, they get around to installing a satellite dish.(All that trouble just to watch the Fox New Channel!) Satellite also keeps the other children of the camp employed in the ever so risky business of mine sweeping. Along comes a child with no arms but with the apparent ability to predict the future.[/font].

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[font=Century Gothic]"Turtles Can Fly" is perfectly good when it sticks to the absurdism of the situation and the powerful realism of the tragic children but it derails when it slips into mysticism. Overall, this is a fair movie but it misses the mark of making a greater statement. [/font].