Bahman Ghobadi's tragic, yet unsentimental first feature is influenced by his own childhood in Iran's Kurdistan. In a remote Kurdish village on the Iran-Iraq border, five motherless children endure hardscrabble lives, as heavily burdened by responsibility and loss as a smuggler's mule. Ayoub (Ayoub Ahmadi) and his young sister, .. Read more
| Starring | Ayoub Ahmadi, Rojin Younessi, Amaneh Ekhtiar-Dini, Nezhad Ekhtiar-Dini |
|---|---|
| Director | Bahman Ghobadi |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
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Bahman Ghobadi's tragic, yet unsentimental first feature is influenced by his own childhood in Iran's Kurdistan. In a remote Kurdish village on the Iran-Iraq border, five motherless children endure hardscrabble lives, as heavily burdened by responsibility and loss as a smuggler's mule. Ayoub (Ayoub Ahmadi) and his young sister, Ameneh (Ameneh Ekhtiar-Dini) work at a bazaar to earn money, while simultaneously caring for their tiny, ill brother, Madi (Mehdi Ekhtiar-Dini), who suffers from a form of dwarfism. When a landmine kills their smuggler father, Ayoub must provide for the family, despite his young age. He joins the smugglers, carrying heavy loads on his back through the snowy mountains toward Iraq, while dodging the constant threat of ambush and mines. Pressure on Ayoub increases as poor Madi's illness worsens. An operation in Iraq is Madi's only hope, yet Ayoub's earnings barely cover the family's necessities. A possible solution arises when the children's eldest sister, Rojin (Rojin Younessi) enters an arranged marriage with an Iraqi, who promises to pay for the operation. With its sparse dialogue, rough settings, and intimate view of Kurdish life, Ghobadi's first feature film is a simply told and very powerful tale.
| Starring | Ayoub Ahmadi, Rojin Younessi, Amaneh Ekhtiar-Dini, Nezhad Ekhtiar-Dini |
|---|---|
| Director | Bahman Ghobadi |
| Studio | PALISADES TARTAN |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 15 mins |
| Certificate |  |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: Kurdish, Farsi |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | Production year: 2000 To Rent: DVD: not available |
"...The movie is brief, spare and heartbreaking....A TIME FOR BROKEN HORSES has the same kind of conviction as movies like THE BICYCLE THIEF, SALAAM BOMBAY and PIXOTE.."
- 8
- 0
Beautiful and harrowing
Not a Hollywood blockbuster, obviously. Bruce Willis does not come riding into Iran to save the Kurds and make it all right. Instead, you have a magnificently ... read more »
[Highly rated reviewer]
- 0
- 0
poor subtitles
I would have liked to have seen this film but the subtitles were so low down the screen that you could not see them, then for a lot of the film there were no ... read more »
- 0
- 0
Tragic
A very grim and daunting account of a family's tragic fight for survival on the mountain borders between Iran & Iraq.
You'll feel lucky ... read more »
- 0
- 0
A film to treasure.
This beautifully filmed story of a family of children in the mountains of Iraq and their struggle to survive in the extremely harsh conditions, is intensely ... read more »
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