Red Fish

Turtles Can Fly was made most powerful by focusing of the lives of children experiencing diaspora. These children are forced into relocating, and many have lost their parents and must start new lives by themselves. As with the films we have watched previously, Turtles Can Fly implores western nations to think about the lives of the people affected by war. As Martin and Yaquinto state in their article, "diasporic cinema deconstructs and challenges hegemonic understandings of national identity as it mediates a re-imagining of the nation from the point of view of the postcolonial subject." In addition to the audience being held captive by the political message of the film, the storyline is also entrancing. The children in Turtles Can Fly have formed their own society in order to cope with their situation, even electing a child, Satellite, to be their leader. They keep themselves busy and feel useful in collecting and selling mines and building defenses, making times of war seem normal. The boys have formed a family, and perhaps their own culture, as a response to their relocation. It is interesting to note that this group is made up entirely of boys, and the only female character is Agrin. This may be because girls stay with the women of the community, making themselves useful in other ways, or that girls in war are held captive or killed by soldiers doing unmentionable things to them. If the latter is true, Agrin is a rarity having escaped. This is emphasized in the film by Satellite's fascination with her and the cinematic device of comparing her to a red fish, something given elusive and mysterious qualities throughout. This comparison is derived from the scene from Agrin's past where she is wearing a red sequined dress before she is assumedly raped. This happens in a pool similar to the one that Satellite claims to have red fish. In addition, when Satellite is given the goldfish in a bag from the American's, moments later the bag is filled with blood. Similarly, when Satellite finally becomes friends with Agrin (I'm making an assumption because we didn't see much of the film's ending), soon after she commits suicide. If my assumption is wrong, you can still draw parallel to Agrin's blood when she is forced by Americans. Her survival is more horrifying than the children you see missing limbs from land mines, as she is eventually driven to suicide. If this does not stir the emotions of the audience, nothing can.