A Time for Drunken Horses (2000)

Just perfect...

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Iranian Cinema is considered to be among the most creative in World cinema; I heard since sex and politics are prone to censorship, filmmakers used kids as their lead roles hence evading censorship and at the same time creating masterpieces. This film is surely one of of them. The essence of this film is survival. That being said this isn't a thriller as the likes of Sin Nombre go, it isn't even a mystery film; this is slow, harsh, raw survival. It is the story of a Kurdish family living in Iran, their back breaking poverty and hence the primitive ways they live in. The main protagonist is Ayoub who has to forego school to work for the family after his father's death. He has a handicapped brother who needs an operation and would not live past the year even if he is operated on. Ayoub works for both the family's survival and his brother Madi's operation. He tries to handle this through transportation of goods on mules from Iran to Iraq. Tires and other good are smuggled on hired mules from Iran to Iraq for better prices; They could be killed by the Border forces or even could step on a mine in this process, this is how Ayoub's father died. You now have a glimpse of the movie, let me not go any further. This film is a subtle expression of protest, demanding rights for people who live only to survive. Watch it for this, Watch it for Ayoub and Watch it for the sweet Ameneh-who readily agrees to marry in return for Madi's operation. Sit back, Bahman Ghobadi invites you to be moved.

A beautiful film. The first time director won an award at Canne for his effort -- the judges were quite impressed. So am I. It shows an interesting slice of life on the Iranian border with Iraq in the Kurdistan region. The actors are amateurs who are able to give the most warm and genuine performances as the characters in this situation. There's no message to take away that war is wrong or anything like that. It's just a slice of life. There actually isn't much of a message other than you gotta do for your family what you gotta do. It's truly eye-opening the lengths that people will go to in order to simply survive. We complain about the most idiotic things in our world with Coca Cola and college and pot and beer and gas stations and pizza delivery and ipods and laptops and torrenting. We are schmucks. Look at these people and feel blessed. Maybe look at these people and wonder how you might be able to help. There might not be a lot that one can do, but there's got to be something. If not then just be aware. This movie can at least do that, show us how life is somewhere we may never go or ever even find out about.8.6 / 10 stars--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener

Notably this movie won many awards in the film festivals around the globe. Hard to say it is the director's debuntante product. A tale about the young siblings leading their hard lives where there is no one to look after. The family without the elders guidance trying to fit in the tough society. Theirs earning depending on the illegal business where child labouring is so common, especially in their village. At the early age these kids are behaving equally to the adults like a fully developed mentality. The fight for the normal life in the surround of harsh mother nature where it covered with snows. Kinda rare to see a story that takes place in this part of the earth because most of us believed middle east is a hot desert region.'A Time for Drunken Horses' tells the story of an Iranian Kurdish family who live in the village next to Iraq border. Their lives running on the smuggling business by their father. Once he dies 12 year old Ayoub is forced to take over his father's position in order to feed the family. The family is yet to recover from their recent loss but situation worsens when the doctor says their handicapped brother needs an immediate operation. Auoub begins to work hard to earn enough toman but in the end he falls short and then his sister come to help. How this struggling family without the parents and with a inexperienced leader leads to the right direction is the rest of the story.The director Ghobadi used the non professional child actors in this 80 minute short tale. Where he succeeds to deliver the surreal drama of his country's domestic problems faced by the poor families. The title represents the horses that used for the smuggling. In some part of the story where they feed alcohol for the horses and especially in the end scene it was unbearable to see animal cruelty. It looked surreal and made uncomfortable to watch. On the other side the young boy's battle for his brother's life was endurable. In the end the movie will easily win your heart.

This film is a masterpiece in Iranian cinema. Its rare for other films to convey as much emotion as this one did, yet maintaining a very dramatic and professional vibe. Ghobadi's work as an assistant truly paid off and this film is undoubtebly in my top 10 Iranian films of all time. a masterpiece.