Required labor: 58 minutes.
1. (23 minutes) Finish the film. 2. (20 minutes) Go back and find a particular scene or a 3-5 second clip that was interesting/moving/confusing to you. Pause it on that one frame, or replay the clip, and write down everything you notice about that frame or sequence of frames. Are there people? How many? Are they scattered? Grouped together? What other objects are in this scene? 3. (15 minutes) Then, write a paragraph thinking about what message the director is trying to convey in this frame or sequence? How does this sequence or frame help you think about power, place, and community in the film.
16 Comments
Ava Mora
10/25/2017 05:38:30 pm
I’m really happy we saw that movie because I thought it was incredibly moving and reminded me of why I love the power of film so much. I genuinely enjoy doing this labor assignment because the movie was so great and love analyzing films like this so thank you for showing it to us! I thought the most interesting frame of the movie was on 1:07:13 when the Satellite was with the younger boy (I couldn’t find his name) buying large weapons, as the little boy asked him what “international” meant. I think this image is powerful for many reasons. In this image there’s only two people but I know they’re surrounded by many others as we watched the moments before and after. The two boys are in the town tents buying weapons after the Americans had announced that they’re coming to save or fight them. I think this concept of the two boys being these weapons in the first place is incredibly important to our themes. The place that they’re in allows them to do so and the community culture is one of having the young children mine, have babies, buy weapons and be in charge of even younger children. The community seems flawed as there are many young young children put into incredibly dangerous situations, as clearly Satellite and the girl’s young brother were put into. Regarding power, clearly the older men have the power as they’re selling the weapons to those willing to buy but Satellite also exemplifies power as he’s maturely buying large machine guns and is in charge of his group. Additionally, the culture of this place seems to be very unmodernized as Satellite has to trade mines for guns instead of swiping a credit card. It’s interesting to note that the kids are kind of left powerless and on their own in situations like war and are therefore forced to mine and risk their lives to even buy ways to defend themselves. I also really enjoy this frame because of the subtle: “What does international mean?” While the boy asking this question is incredibly young and probably wouldn’t have known what it meant anyway, the question is reflective on the entire community as all of the boys and even adults don’t understand there are other countries in the world and places like America. This subtle reflects that not only is this community incredibly small, but it’s also isolated and unglobalized as kids like Satellite want to leave and move to America.
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Maribel Juarez Vargas
10/25/2017 08:32:03 pm
War films usually portray the story of families affected or the internal conflicts of soldiers. On the other hand, Turtles Can Fly depicts the story of refugee children . It was very hard to imagine that children really had to undergo situations like this. I had a difficult time understanding how power, place, and community worked in this film. At first I thought that Satellite was the main component of community, and his actions to help the children constituted a sense of place. Wherever Satellite went there was at least another child there. The loyalty and respect given to Satellite positioned him in a role of power. Nonetheless, Satellite’s role in this film did not explain why the title was Turtles can Fly. Throughout the entire movie, turtles were only shown twice and in both occasions Riga had possession of them. The scene I chose was between 1:29:00 and 1:29:26. Hengov, Riga, and a turtle are the only ones present. This scene seems to be one of Hengov’s predictions, but a few minutes after it is revealed that RIga did in fact drown. The interesting part, however, is that this is the only time in the film in where a turtle seems to be flying. I think that the director’s intention with this is scene and its relation to the tile is that hope is always present. The children have recently found out that the war is over, which means that they have a greater chance of bettering their standard of living. The most interesting part is that the turtles are connected to the youngest cast member, Riga, and to me that reinforces the innocence and optimism of children.
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Christina Hendricsks
10/25/2017 10:46:06 pm
Overall, I think this film was very impactful-- especially with the decision to use children as the leading roles. I selected the scene when the Armless boy had a vision of Riga drowning, and then his reaction to it. There are few people, mainly the few main characters, Riga, Armless boy, Satellite, and then satellites two companions featured in this scene. It is interesting how this scene is used to contrast the following scene, where the young girl decides to commit suicide. I think the biggest part about this scene is how it conveys the relationship between the past community, and how events there haunt the lives of the children even in the new community. The fact that Riga is the young girl’s child, a result of being raped by the attackers on the night they left, serves as a constant reminder to the young girl of the events that occurred. The young girl was forced into a place of assumed parenthood-- showing her lack of power and identity. This traumatic experience emphasized her disempowerment when approached by the attackers. However, she exercises power by murdering her son and then killing herself. Bachman's choice to have a scene in which the girl chooses to drown the child is interesting, because water is often used as a sign of rebirth and by drawing the child she is in a sense trying to distance herself from the pain inflicted upon her. However this rebirth of her place seems to fail as she also chooses to commit suicide. The interaction between Riga, the armless boy, and his sister, is particularly interesting because it addresses the power, place, and community in a time of complicated identity. The children are forced to transition into a place of unfamiliarity within a community where they are reminded of past experiences. This scene as a whole is very interesting, however what was most impressive to me about it, is how the scene captured so many different relationships and the impact they had on each other.
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Vincent Lyau
10/25/2017 11:14:42 pm
The specific clip I chose was from 1:19:10 to 1:19:15. This scene depicts Satellite's attempt to save Riga from the minefield. In the five second clip I selected, we see Shirkooh and Pashow talking.
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Ryan Van
10/25/2017 11:21:31 pm
One of the most significant scenes was when Agrin was sexually assaulted. The scene reveals a great deal about the plot of the movie and ties into our class theme of power, place and community. In this particular scene, there are many people, including, Agrin, Hengov (her brother), and Saddam Hussein’s (implied) soldiers. The soldiers commit horrendous acts against Agrin (showing gang-rape of her) and also shooting off Hengov’s arms.
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Hudson Northrop
10/25/2017 11:25:48 pm
I chose to focus on part of the final scene from about- 1:34-1:35. Satellite and Pasheo both stand with their injured limbs and crutches. Pasheo is obviously more comfortable and used to the lifestyle of having a maimed leg while Satellite is still struggling as he learns to adjust to this new way of walking. Two American soldiers run by, followed by a large American military vehicle. Satellite and Pasheo are together, but they face opposite directions, suggesting that they are not very close at the moment. The soldiers act in a world entirely separated from Satellite’s and Pasheo’s, however they literally pass within feet of each other. In the background there are remains of a dismantled tank or vehicle of some sort, the barren hills of the area, and the cloudy dark sky. There are lines of barbed wire lining the edge of the muddy road on which everyone is standing.
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Lauren Jones
10/25/2017 11:46:14 pm
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Allan Lee
10/26/2017 10:27:51 am
I chose the scene where Hengov is walking by the tanks and sees images of Agrin posing in various places. The scene itself is very odd and bewildering, but the audience is still moved and saddened due to the weight of the situation surrounding the scene even though it is hard to fully understand the depth of the scene.
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Elizabeth Lemons
10/26/2017 10:43:32 am
I chose the scene at 1:33 as the most moving moment in the film. Just watching the scene for face value, it's an obviously heartbreaking moment as we feel for Hengov's loss and for all the tragedies that befell the rest of the children. Looking at the scene, Hengov is the only one there to mourn and barely takes up any screen space. The rest of the screen is filled with the bottom of the cliff. While in many of the scenes, especially those where Agrin is contemplating suicide, there is a thick fog, but here, the fog is not visible. In addition to that, we see Agrin's purple shoes that contrast sharply with the dull colors of the rest of the scene. The only sounds we hear are his crying and the wind; there is no sad orchestra to amplify the mood, and I believe it would've been unnecessary to include it.
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Brandon Lee
10/26/2017 10:59:47 am
The scene when the armless boy dreams about the child drowning was initially confusing for me. The frames show a close up image of Satellite and the armless boy swimming in the water trying to free the boy. He is tied down and floating head downwards. A turtle swims upwards across the screen. They try to free him but can’t, and then the armless boy wakes up. After a few seconds I realized that it was a premonition from the armless boy. When he was running towards the lake, he was seeing illusions of his sister everywhere, because he knew it was her who drowned the boy. After realizing that everything else fell into place. The red fish that died that was given to Satellite in the previous scene was a reference to the drowning boy, as he boy drowned in the same river the red fish were living in. That was also the same lake that two other kids supposedly drowned in, so the lake was cursed. I also realized that all the scenes we got throughout the movie where the girl was dangling off the cliff were probably also premonitions experienced by the armless boy. (I am assuming this because after he left the lake he ran up to the cliff the girl jumped off of.) It is also interesting that the child eventually died while being tied down with a rope, presumably the same rope that the girl asked from Satellite in the beginning of the movie.
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Jillian Behrens
10/26/2017 12:11:42 pm
The scene that I found most moving was when Agrin, Hengov, and the small child are lying in bed and it’s revealed through Agrin and Hengov’s discussion that the child is actually Agrin’s own son and not their younger brother. It begins with Agrin on the left and Hengov in the middle, separating Agrin and her son, showing a literal disconnect between the two. Hengov reveals that Agrin despises the son so much that she tries to get rid of him in several ways, like loosening that rope that keeps the kid secure so that he can wander off and hopefully get lost. Therefore Hengov’s positioning can be seen as him literally shielding the kid from danger, by keeping Agrin away from him. Hengov desperately tries to get Agrin to love the child, but Agrin refuses. When Hengov puts the child back in between him and Agrin, the child cries which we see further agitates Agrin and causes her to leave the two. I think that in relation to power, place, and community, this scene helped me understand the struggle of how all three were taken from the two siblings when their own home was destroyed and how they still are struggling to regain what they have lost. Their village was pillaged and burned, and their family was murdered, taking away Hengov’s and Agrin’s home, and forcing them to move and live on their own. Their community was destroyed, but the two siblings were able to remain together. However, because of Agrin’s rape, which was another way for the attackers to steal power from Agrin, she now has a son whom she despises because his existence is just another reminder of what happened to Agrin and their family. Because Hengov and Agrin disagree about what should be done with the child, this drives another stake in between the two siblings. Agrin desperately wants to leave their current place and the child, but Hengov does not. If Agrin leaves without Hengov, then she loses the last part of community and family that she has left, but it would also mean that she would be forced to raise the child that she so desperately hates. This scene was very moving to because it is where all of this internal struggle that Agrin has been facing finally becomes understood by the viewer, and you finally understand why Agrin holds so much resent for where she is now in her life, which ultimately led to her suicide at the end of the film.
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Nicole Mendoza
10/26/2017 12:25:47 pm
A moment that clearly stood out to me was 1:03:26. This frame captures the entire refugee camp on the hill as the U.S. pamphlets of promises descend upon them. In this moment, the people are overjoyed that the U.S. is there to help them, and its intervention will "make this country a paradise." They are hoping for the best, and they pray that they will soon be allowed to return home safely. They have no power in this situation, which is why they are depending on the Americans to help.
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sydney julien
10/26/2017 12:58:22 pm
One moment I found interesting and emotionally drawing is from 1:10:55-1:11:06. This is the moment where Agrin is taking Riga to be tied up to the tree, and later she leaves him. I was drawn to her emotional walk through the fog because it seemed to show her emotional journey throughout the film.
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Shalin Shah
10/26/2017 01:50:15 pm
Overall I thought this was a fabulous movie. The ending was extremely grim and not what I was expecting at all. The mental conflicts that Agrin had with herself were very captivating. One of the scenes that really stood out to me was the scene at 15:20 - 15:25 in which Satellite starts calling Hengov a liar and confronts him because he doesn’t know of Hengov’s clairvoyance yet. I think this showed an interesting power dynamic early on between the children in the movie. Early on, I was having trouble understanding who the leader was and who the other children respected. In that scene, when Hengov slams his head into Satellite’s face, almost 30 kids immediately ran over and crowded around the fallen Satellite. After watching this scene, I thought there would be a power struggle between Satellite and Hengov for the rest of the movie. Because that doesn’t happen, I really liked this scene because it made the rest of the film unpredictable. Also, this shows the differences in personality between the two boys. Satellite is more charismatic so he initiates the fight / conflict while Hengov is more quiet yet still able to hold his ground. Amongst all the larger conflicts and bigger issues this kids have to worry about as refugees, I thought it was also pleasant to see that sometimes the power dynamics are not so grim and traumatic–they can also be simple. Ultimately, that’s why I really liked this scene.
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Seth Dumaguin
10/26/2017 02:47:08 pm
In “Turtles Can Fly” one specific scene left an imprint in my head. I chose the scene after the explosion that hurt Satellite while trying to save the baby. During this scene, all of the children that Satellite watched over and took care were there by his side after the explosion. The scene had all of the children that “worked” under Satellite all grouped together with the same look on their face: worry. I think on this part the director is trying to convey the sense of community that the children had formed. The director is trying to show that they are one big family and will do things together. This scene is trying to show that Satellite is as close as a father figure as any of them could get since most of them are orphans. With this scene, it helps me think of about the power, place, and community in the film. This scene shows that the children when they are together had all the power since they do all the work. Satellite is one of the most important child in the movie since he is the only one that can translate the news to the people. As for the place, this scene does not quite show a lot about the place in the movie. Though I think that with this scene it somewhat shows that the sense of place is strong when Satellite is there. Satellite is their leader and whenever he is there the children would listen to him so basically, everything somewhat revolves around Satellite, but he does not take advantage of it.
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Natalie Enos
10/26/2017 04:40:53 pm
I chose the scene in which Agrin is shown being sexually assaulted because it really moved me and made me think about the fact that these things actually happen and that there is nothing we can do about them. I think that the director is trying to show the reality of sexual assault on women and children and just the injustice of it all. This scene definitely made me think about the monstrosity of sexual violence, especially against children, but also how much of a reality it is/was and how little we address it. In this scene, I think that power definitely plays a role because the men are exercising power over Agrin and she is simultaneously losing all of hers by being used in this way. I think that the soldiers are experiencing a power trip and this is why they assault Agrin, so in that way power is motivating them to act in the way that they do. I also think that community plays a role in this scene because Agrin has no community to help her. She has lost her parents, her home, and everything that she ever knew, so she is alone to fight both the traumatic experience itself, and the PTSD that follows.
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