“Iron Island” is about a large group of poor people who, unable to afford lodgings on land, have found refuge on a disused and rusting (not to mention, slowly sinking) oil tanker, where those onboard have created a community amongst themselves. Small sections of the boat have been cordoned off for each family's living quarters, the kids attend a school run by a teacher onboard, while the men on the ship and the male kids of working age pull apart the scrap metal and drain whats left of the oil to sell off. Meanwhile the women of the ship, keep it clean and tidy while preparing meals for their loved ones. It appears that this small community is living in total harmony, but the going-ons of the ship are run with an iron fist by Nemat, the ship's captain. He is a complex character because at times he comes across as caring and genuinely heartfelt towards his lodgers, but is he really just using these people for his own personal gain, while unwittingly going to end up leaving them with nothing for themselves? Further tensions arise when Nemat's assistant, Ahmad, falls in love with a young girl on the ship (who has already been promised for marriage to another, much older man), which causes the captain's more dictatorial tendencies to come to the surface, potentially destroying his “nice guy” facade.
What I really liked about “Iron Island” was although a lot of the allegorical moments, particularly involving the dictators and their strict ruling over their people, seem to relate to Iran and its current political situation, it is actually a pretty universal tale (sadly) of underprivileged people being taken advantage of, first without their knowledge until it is too late, and second, by trusting people who on the surface claim to be helping these people but are doing anything but. The community onboard offer a microcosm of a blue-collar world; men and women working on physically demanding jobs on a daily basis, just to get through the daily grind.
Rasoulof's greatest asset in the film is the ship itself; never has rust and decay looked more beautiful and visually interesting. I mean parts of the boat are so badly conditioned that it feels like you need a tetanus shot just from looking at it, but it is all strangely very beautiful too. No doubt it must have been a dangerous place to shoot the film, with all of it's sharp edges, failing railings and the like, but the fact that a lot of this ship has been re-purposed as small dwellings for each family, it gives it a beauty and a sense of wonder that you normally wouldn't relate with such an environment. It is home to these people, and while it may not be much to us, they take pride in what little they have onboard. I also really loved the way that Mohammad Rasoulof contrasted the rust and decay of the ship with the stunningly crystal clear water that the ship is sitting and slowing sinking into, which I saw as a visual representation of the corruption taking place onboard.
An interesting aspect of “Iron Island” is Mohammad Rasoulof's decision not to focus on one main character or narrative thread, rather choosing to look at the exploits and experiences of a number of different characters, in an attempt to give a more complete picture of the community and the conflicts within the community as a whole. While it initially appears that Nemat and his assistant Ahmad are going to be the main characters of the film (and to be fair, I guess all the stories within “Iron Island” do orbit these characters in some fashion), they are soon included by the increasingly disillusioned teacher, a young boy who spends his time in the bowels of the boat freeing small fish who have become trapped inside, an elder man constantly staring at the horizon (searching for future hope?), and briefly, the young girl that Ahmad falls in love with. I personally thought the teacher's exploits very interesting as he is a man who clearly cares about imparting his knowledge on to the youth, but is constantly hampered in this task due to the “lessons” he is forced to focus on by Nemat, which involves repeating key lines of dialogue in his teachings such as “life on the ship is great”, while at the same time discouraging exploration of the world outside of the ship. As the movie goes on, you can feel his frustrations grow as he knows he is teaching these children nothing truthful about the world, rather forcing an indoctrination down their throats instead. By the end, you feel his passion for teaching has completely dissipated, and he no longer cares.
As I mentioned earlier, Nemat is a complex character in that he does run the ship in a dictatorial fashion, but there are moments when he comes across sympathetically. Granted this may be a method to keep his “flock” in check and under control, while making them believe he has their best interests at heart, but I still hazard to call him an out and out evil character. That said, there are still many moments and indications in the film that expose the dictator inside that he is trying to disguise. One way is how all the women are treated onboard the ship, with all of them forced to wear a burka on their face if their husbands are not present. One of the greatest moments in “Iron Island” involves one of these burkas when Ahmad and the girl he loves, communicate from different levels of the ship by passing notes to each other on a small string, until the young girl ties her burka to said string (leaving her “unmasked” and “naked”). Whilst absolutely a chaste gesture to anyone in the western world, the erotic and romantic connotations of the gesture in this world is impossible to miss or ignore. And it is this young love affair that really exposes Nemat for the true dictator he is, when he makes a public showing of the beating and torture he gives to Ahmad (for attempting to leave the boat with his love) in order to keep the rest of the inhabitants on the boat in check. It is the film's most brutal moment, and something of a shock seeing just how far Nemat goes, especially considering how placid Nemat has been with his dealings with Ahmad in the film previous, almost being like a father-figure to the boy. The other main way we witness Nemat exploit the squatters onboard is by the constant overworking of the men. They are given the hardest tasks to complete, which Nemat reaps the rewards from their hard work.
Personally I found the ending of the film to be particularly heartbreaking too (although I was surprised that some at the screening saw some form of hope and saw the ending as a new beginning for the group). With the ship sinking quicker, it is decided that the group must leave the ship and build a town on land with the money they have made from stripping the boat of its iron and the oil drained from it. While Nemat professes big dreams to the group who trust in him, all I could see was lies. In my mind, it wouldn't be long until he fled from the group leaving them all with nothing. His dreams of the town they will build are too fanciful and if it doesn't ring true, it probably isn't. However the heartbreaking part is the way most of the people still look at Nemat, like he is their saviour. They are going to be left high and dry and do not even expect it......or maybe that is my cynical viewpoint of the world, and it is a happy ending for all. However, my interpretation seems to be backed up by a brilliant final scene of the young boy who finds a small fish trapped in a rock pool. Like he did on the boat, he collects the fish before throwing it back out to sea, saving it........until he notices that the fishing nets surrounding the area he just threw the fish. It is a symbolic moment signifying that they “are out of the frying pan, but into the fire”, and the scene finishes with the most powerful use of slow motion as the boy turns, and runs back towards the ocean in an attempt to save the fish he just threw in there.
Overall, I was very impressed by Mohammad Rasoulof's “Iron Island”; it was a fantastic film filled with characters you care about, and packed to the gills with humanity and respect towards those less fortunate than most. I think what really impressed me the most though, was Rasoulof's increased confidence behind the camera and his improvement in creating a visual style that was becoming very cinematic. Out of his earlier, more poetic films, “Iron Island” was the film I enjoyed the most, even though at times it can be a painful watch, I think the humanity of the characters shines through to make it a more positive experience than you may initially think it will be.
3.5 Stars.
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