|
A TIME FOR DRUNKEN HORSES Send This Review to a Friend
The location is a Kurdish region of Iran along the border with Iraq. Life is relentlessly grim, whether in earning a living or trying to cope with seemingly insurmountable personal difficulties. Ayoub is a youngster whose mother is dead and whose father disappears after an illegal smuggling attempt. In addition to trying to care for this sisters and brothers, Ayoub is wracked with compassion and worry over one brother, Madi, whose growth is stunted and who is fatally ill, and only an operation, for which there is no money, can prolong his life, and only for a little while at that.
Bahman Ghobadi's stark naturalistic film chronicles the yeoman efforts of young Ayoub to attempt to earn money for his brother's operation by smuggling goods between Iraq and Iran. Meanwhile, his elder sister Ameneh is willing to subjugate herself in a marriage across the border after being promised that the husband's family will pay for Madi's operation.
The story is told with grimness and detail and completely without frills. It is so deeply moving that one feels present at the scene, and the film gathers strength from the director's determination to make everything seem painfully real. The children are not actors, but the director has chosen them well and the characters on screen bear the same first names as the performers. They seem thoroughly authentic.
Add this under-your-skin drama to the numerous interesting films coming from Iran. Often, as is the case here, making comments on life in that censor-ridden country requires telling stories that on their surface seem limited but suggest revelations far beyond the immediate situations.
The title "A Time for Drunken Horses" refers to the practice of feeding liquor to the beasts of burden who trudge with their heavy loads in freezing, winter weather. But the animals used here are mules, so the title is a bit of a misnomer. No matter. The film itself has all the ring of truth it needs and scene after scene will linger in your mind. A Shooting Gallery release.
|