(rated NR, 80 mins)
Co-winner of Camera d’Or, Cannes 2000, this is the kind of movie that leaves you asking ‘could it get any worse’ and it does. Not in the poor quality of the film, but in the subject matter. This should be required viewing for all American children who think the world revolves around Gap clothes and N Sync music. It’s the story of a poverty stricken boy who is raised just off the Iran/Iraqi border by his older sister and brother since both parents are deceased. These five, tightly bond children manage to smile every night despite hardships we never even dreamed of. These siblings will stop at nothing to save each other including heart wrenching scenes of the oldest son traveling numerous times through blizzards to the other side of the mountain in Iraq to make measly food money. The terrain is such a treacherous war zone, they must intoxicate the horses to move them (thus the movie’s title). When the eldest son fails to raise money for the little brother’s operation, the eldest sister gives her hand in marriage to an Iraqi who offers to pay for the surgery . Of course nothing comes easy and it’s one sad episode after another. Even the journey for the horses is a snowy uphill to the story’s downhill tragedy. Excellent performances by Nexhad Ekhtiar, Dini and Amaneh Ekhtiar-Dini who made me believe I was with them and not in front of a sub-titled screen. A humble tribute to the cultural heritage of the director, producer and screenwriter Bahman Ghobadi who should be proud of his achievement.
