The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
Features  |  Reviews
FIND MOVIES
Find a Movie
Movie List
Loading ...
or
Find Theaters and Movie Times
or
Search Movies

Iron Island

A leadership lesson for Americans and Iranians
By PETER KEOUGH  |  August 23, 2006
3.0 3.0 Stars


IRON ISLAND: Censorship often makes for good cinema.
Filmmakers in repressive countries tend to think metaphorically, and they can achieve works more evocative and universal than any overt statement might be. That’s not to condone censorship, only to say that gems like Iron Island provide some compensation. In Mohammad Rasoulof’s initially coy, ultimately chilling allegory, a derelict oil tanker anchored offshore serves as a makeshift village for outcast squatters and also as an allegory for . . . modern Iran? . . . the world in general? Paternal Captain Nernat makes the rounds of the tenants, who include the requisite symbolic oddballs, and encourages everyone to be optimistic. But he has two reasons to worry: businessmen ashore want to evacuate the ship and sell it for scrap, and a penniless youth on board wants to defy tradition and marry a brutal man’s daughter. Rasoulof’s long takes of rusty bulkheads erupt into revelatory images, and his salty yarn becomes a lesson about leadership pertinent to Americans and Iranians both.

On the Web
Iron Island's official Web site: http://www.kino.com/ironisland/

Related: Sleepwalking, Jumper, Before and after images, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Entertainment, Movies
  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • RSS feed
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article
Comments

Today's Event Picks
More Information
ARTICLES BY PETER KEOUGH
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   REVIEW: UP IN THE AIR  |  December 01, 2009
    No director pulls off the bait-and-switch as craftily as Jason Reitman. He gets you thinking that you're watching a hip, caustic comedy subverting the status quo, but by the end, he's vindicated all the platitudes he seemed to scorn.
  •   REVIEW: Z (1969)  |  December 01, 2009
    John F. Kennedy wasn't the only political leader murdered in 1963. On May 22 of that year, Gregoris Lambrakis, a left-leaning, pacifist member of the Greek parliament and an aspiring presidential candidate seeking to replace the reigning right-wing government, was assaulted after a peace rally in Thessaloniki. He died five days later.
  •   REVIEW: JULIA  |  December 02, 2009
    When the once-æthereal muse of the late Derek Jarman wiped sweat from her armpits in Michael Clayton , a new persona was born.
  •   REVIEW: THE STRIP  |  December 02, 2009
    In lieu of Steve Carell’s hopelessly inept and earnest manager, we have his creepier duplicate, Glenn. Instead of the boorish brown-noser played by Rainn Wilson, there’s the more obnoxious Rick.
  •   REVIEW: BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS  |  November 24, 2009
    Nicolas Cage is at his best in Bad Lieutenant

 See all articles by: PETER KEOUGH

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group