Blackboards Review
Samira_Makhmalbaf's drama Takhte Siah (Blackboards) is a well-made, if inaccessible, tale of humanity. Most audiences may have a hard time understanding why these Kurdish teachers are wandering through the inhospitable mountains looking for students. Even more puzzling is why unseen helicopters and gunmen insist on hunting them down at every opportunity. Armed with a historical perspective about the area, those looking for a real artistic challenge may find a lot to like about Blackboards. The inherently dismal tale of Kurds traveling along a rocky landscape is fortunately humanized by a few factors. One teacher's ambition touches the lives of young people who make a living smuggling goods and milking goats, and their brief lessons suggest a break in the routine of survival and hardship. Another teacher travels with a large group of aging men in search of their homeland. He gets married to (and divorced from) a widowed mother and manages to use his burdensome blackboard as protection for his new family. Even with these fleeting moments of inspiration, this film is too bleak and confusing for most viewers, although those well-informed about the pastoral and agricultural people of the Kurdistan region may find their very presence in an Iranian film to be a successful venture. Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
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