By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Mohammad Rasoulof
Starring: Ali Nassirian | Hossein Farzi-Zadeh | Neda Pakdaman
Original language title: Jazireh Ahani
Country: iran
Year: 2006
Running time: 90
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472113/
Michael says: “IRON ISLAND is a little-seen Iranian film by Mohammad Rasoulof that enjoyed a very brief run at the Museum of Fine Arts. It’s now available on DVD, and I highly recommend that you take a look. Blending captivating visuals with a powerful narrative, IRON ISLAND looks at the struggles to survive faced by the Sunni-Arab minority in Iran.
“Held together by the charismatic and politically savvy Captain Nemat, dozens of lost families form a community on a derelict oil tanker off the coast of Iran. With single-minded purpose, Nemat rules his community in an effort to keep them safe and prosperous. When the owners of the ship plan to sell it for scrap, Nemat must become his community’s liberator, while walking the thin line between benevolent leader and cruel tryant. The thorn in Nemat’s side is his protege, who risks the community’s delicate harmoney as well as his favor with the Captain by embarking on a forbidden love with a young woman betrothed to another. It is a testament to this film that there are no easy answers to this moral dilemma, and I wasn’t sure which Nemat truly was until the very end.
“Ali Nassirian, lauded in Iran as an actor and a playwright, drives Nemat with a single-minded purpose that leaps off the screen, while young Hossein Farzi-Zadeh does a terrific job winning sympathy while pursuing his own interests as the Captain’s young protege. But it’s writer/director Rasoulof, and his cinematographer Reza Jalali who shine the brightest here. The two have collaborated on both of their sole film credits, but have spun a tale that is visually spectacular and compact and compelling in its spare storyline. This one is a Buried Treasure if I’ve ever seen one, although if enough people see it, I wouldn’t be surprised if it picked up a couple of other nods. 4 1/2 cats”