A Time For Drunken Horses

Iran is known for many things, but filmmaking is not one of them. In a country as poor as Iran, films are not likely to have huge budgets lavished on them, and it was with this assumption that I sat down to watch A Time For Drunken Horses. The experience was both a surprise and an enjoyable, though somewhat depressing, look at life in a country we know little about.

Directed by Iranian filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi, it tells the story of five orphaned Iranian children in the Kurdish region, close to the Iraqi border. They range in age from 15 down to about eight, and have been motherless since the youngest was born. Their father, a smuggler, dies early in the film, though we never actually get to see him alive, and the burden of providing for the family in the harshest of environments falls to 12 year old Ayoub (Ayoub Ahmadi). Life is made all the tougher by the fact that the 15 year-old is severely physically disabled, and is on constant medication. Madi (Madi Ekhtiar-dini) needs an operation very soon or he will die, and the film tells the story of the children's survival, and at the same time, their attempts to raise money for Madi's life-saving operation in Iraq.

Ayoub, with the aid of his uncle, scores a job with a local band of smugglers that once included his father. They smuggle goods to and from Iraq, usually on foot with the aid of mules, and through the harshest of conditions including deep snow and ambushes. The title of the film refers to the practice of pouring alcohol into the mules' drinking water in order to help keep them warm on the long, arduous trips over the border. Ayoub manages to score the family a mule, essential for making any real money as a smuggler, after a deal involving his sister's arranged marriage sours. Madi is promised his operation, in exchange for Rojin's hand (Rojin Younessi), but at the last minute, the groom's family reneges on that part of the deal, and the children are no better off, other than for the mule. What follows can only be described as heartbreaking, and only the stoniest of hearts would fail to be moved by the dedication and selflessness of 12 year old Ayoub.

Written by director Ghobadi, and set in the places where he grew up, A Time For Drunken Horses has all the signs of a budget film, but it makes quite an impact. The inexperienced child actors are both beautiful and convincing. Their story is no doubt typical of life in these poorest of villages, and reminds us that, by comparison, we have little to complain about. The film was the recipient of several awards including ones from Cannes 2000, and the Chicago International Film Festival. Yes it's a foreign film, but it is not some arty-farty student piece. It is a glimpse of the lives of a handful of children that will probably never know the meaning of true happiness.

This is quite a superb transfer. Budget films have a tendency to look nasty, but this one is rather good. It is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. The bleak landscape is well emphasised by the drab and sparse use of bold colours. All colours are slightly muted, and even the children's sometimes colourful clothing fails to lift the mood. A very natural look has been achieved.

Black levels are good, though few in number, and shadow detail is excellent. There is no evidence of chroma or low-level noise, and there are no issues with film artefacts. The image is generally sharp, with the barest evidence of grain in a few places, but the transfer is very clean and free from marks and specks. There are no film to video artefacts such as aliasing or shimmer, and these factors combine to make a very respectable transfer.

There is just the one audio track, and it is a serviceable Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo in Farsi/Kurdish. Being essentially a dialogue driven film, the lack of output from all but the left and right front speakers is not really missed. All vocals are clear, though they're not in English. There are no problems with synchronisation, though there are a few passages where the subtitles seem to be slightly lacking, though it is easy to gauge mood of the dialogue.

Low-level sounds such as the wind blowing across the mountains sounds sufficiently loud and deep enough to make you glad you are viewing this from the comfort of your couch. There is not much accompanying music, though what there is sounds good.

The extras are hardly impressive, starting with a four-page text only biography of director Bahman Ghobadi. It's hardly in-depth, but then like me you've probably never heard of the man, so at least it's all new.

There is a trailer that runs for 1:23 and is presented in full frame. It is quite marked by dirt and without a voiceover doesn't really provide the viewer with too many clues about the movie.

The last extra is the usual Madman Propaganda consisting of trailers for the Madman releases The Cat's Meow, The Circle, Kandahar, Monsoon Wedding, and Molokai. They vary in length and quality, and provide possible options next time you are at your local video library.

A Time For Drunken Horses is a short film by today's standards, but it is the perfect length for a story such as this. It is a film that merely presents itself on its merits. There are no big names, no special effects, and no gimmicks. It is a fine foreign drama from a country that most of us know little about, but after watching this hopefully we will have seen more than just a good film.