A Mad Movie Review

March 2001

A Time for Drunken Horses

Written, Directed, and Produced by Bahman Ghobadi

Winner, Camera D’OR for Best First Film, Cannes 2000

This is a film about a young boy and his struggle to save the life of his disabled younger brother and to support his 3 sisters after the death of their parents. It takes place in what is known as Kurdistan, a region inhabited by the Kurdish people, somewhere in the mountainous region near the Iranian and Iraqi borders. The story is told in the first person by the middle sister [ about 9 years of age] who is charged with the care of her disabled brother. His age is 15 years, but he functions as a 3 year old.

The children live in abject poverty and are subjected to all kinds of environmental, social and political difficulties, including being ambushed while smuggling goods from Iran to Iraq. The ambushers, it seems, can be either Iraqi or Iranian. The Kurds are hated by both for their differences in speech, customs and religion as well as for their desire to have their own nation. The movie derives its title from the episodes in which the smugglers [ the child hero included] are trying to transport goods across the Iranian border. Besides carrying heavy packs on their backs through mountainous footpaths, the only other mode of transport is by mule pack. The mules are fed huge quantities of whiskey to ward off the bitter cold and make them more amenable to direction through the pass. The colder it gets the more alcohol the mules are given. At one point the alcohol almost completely foils the venture as the mules are adversely affected by having ingested too much and threaten to collapse during a skirmish.

This is a beautifully filmed movie, rich in the colors of a culture, the eyes of children, the brutalities of human beings, and in the dangers of living close to the elements. It brings to mind, once again, how often we still see the persecution of those who are different and how unjust and unnecessary it all is. It is written and produced by an independent film maker who lived among the Kurds for 30 years and wanted to tell their story.

This is the kind of movie I want to support. It is painful but necessary to watch. We need to learn the realities of life on this planet. I hope Syntropic Villagers can some day help to end such stories of persecution, but before we can do that we have to become aware.

Madeline Dow

For more info about this film: Shooting Gallery Films

N.B. Madeline invites your comments and questions in response to her reviews: beets5th@aol.com