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MOVIES / ON DVD / IRON ISLAND
Iron Island

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Iron Island (2006)

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Reviews Counted: 29 Fresh: 28  Rotten:1 Average Rating: 7.4/10
 
Consensus: A political allegory that packs a punch. A visually creative yet grounded film from Iran, Iron Island is a political allegory that packs a punch. more
 
Rated: Not Rated
Runtime: 90 mins
Theatrical Release: Mar 31, 2006 Limited
Synopsis:
The titular “Iron Island” is a huge rusting tanker off the Iranian coast in which dozens of homeless families have found shelter and formed a community. The head of the ship, Captain Nemat tries to balance finding jobs, oil, food and even husbands for the poor and struggling families. He... [More]
The titular “Iron Island” is a huge rusting tanker off the Iranian coast in which dozens of homeless families have found shelter and formed a community. The head of the ship, Captain Nemat tries to balance finding jobs, oil, food and even husbands for the poor and struggling families. He controls the “residence” with absolute power which comes to violent crisis when two young lovers attempt to defy his authority and from the increasing pressure of business interests seeking to seize the ship and evict the residents. -- © Kino International [Less]

Genre: Foreign Films

Starring: Ali Nassirian, Hossein Farzi-Zadeh, Neda Pakdaman, Didar Razeghi, Mehdi Bedeleh

Director: Mohammad Rasoulof

DVD Info

Release:

Jun 5, 2006

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Widescreen - 1.85

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - Farsi
  • Subtitles - English - Optional

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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Ratings Image

This resonant fable proves again that art flourishes in unlikely places, under the most restrictive conditions.

Full Review | Comment
02/22/07 07:33 AM
Rex Roberts
Film Journal International
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
11/11/06 07:08 AM
Stuart Klawans
Nation
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Like the great Iranian filmmakers, Rasoulof has no use for the artificiality of heightened drama. He opts, instead, for a more universal humanism, which is a better teaching tool.

Full Review | Comment
08/25/06 10:07 PM
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
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A galloping fable full of offbeat characters and entertaining moments.

Full Review | Comment
07/21/06 06:39 PM
Deborah Young
Variety
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A captivating socio-political allegory with the air of satire as well as fable, Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof's Iron Island has an Orwellian sting.

Full Review | Comment
07/21/06 06:28 PM
Tom Keogh
Seattle Times
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But behind the utopian fairy tale is the genial authoritarianism... Ambivalence has rarely been made so lyrical and lovely.

Full Review | Comment
07/20/06 05:52 PM
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Conflicts, contrasts and apparent paradoxes lap away under the surface, beautifully shot by cinematographer Reza Jallali . . . Iron Island has an eerie, elemental beauty.

Full Review | Comment
07/13/06 12:21 PM
Brian Gibson
Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)
N/R

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Full Review | Comment
07/08/06 04:25 AM
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
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This is a potent social allegory from Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, told with humor and a feeling of mystery.

Full Review | Comment
06/30/06 03:16 PM
Walter V. Addiego
San Francisco Chronicle
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Dramatically engrossing and visually enthralling.

Full Review | Comment
06/22/06 01:40 PM
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
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The graceful film by Mohammad Rasoulof balances the residents' humdrum daily lives with magical, dreamlike moments that provide hope where hope often has no place.

Full Review | Comment
05/26/06 05:28 PM
Michele Kenner
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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'Iron Island' provides no comforting answers, choosing instead to remain ambiguous...

Full Review | Comment
05/23/06 10:24 AM
Gloria Monti
culturevulture.net
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Iran's recent growlings under its new president make such a film as Iron Island all the more remarkable.

Full Review | Comment
04/21/06 01:56 PM
Stanley Kauffmann
New Republic
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A harrowing, one-of-a-kind movie.

Full Review | Comment
04/21/06 11:33 AM
Peter Rainer
Christian Science Monitor
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There is a whole teeming city on this derelict boat, and watching everyone doing their jobs (many of which involve taking the ship apart and selling the pieces as scrap metal) is quite involving.

Full Review | Comment
04/20/06 05:12 PM
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
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A thrilling example of the cunning political allegory woven into vivid concretism that invigorates contemporary Iranian cinema.

Full Review | Comment
04/20/06 10:52 AM
Ella Taylor
L.A. Weekly
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A powerful political allegory.

Full Review | Comment
04/19/06 12:29 PM
Richard James Havis
Hollywood Reporter
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This is what cinema is about. Taking the viewer into a completely alien world and trying to make some sense out of it.

Full Review | Comment
04/06/06 12:28 PM
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette
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Despite technical and story deficiencies, this is a film that's as well intentioned as its complex central figure.

Full Review | Comment
04/05/06 11:45 AM
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals
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Mohammad Rasoulof's heartfelt and darkly comic second feature proves beyond any doubt that Iranian film is still alive and well.

Full Review | Comment
03/31/06 02:35 PM
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide
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Related Forums

REEL_REVIEWER
KINO INTL set to release Mohammad Rasoulof's IRON ISLAND in the USA in 2006!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/2/06


REEL_REVIEWER
KINO INTL set to release Mohammad Rasoulof's IRON ISLAND in the USA in 2006!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/2/06


REEL_REVIEWER
KINO INTL set to release Mohammad Rasoulof's IRON ISLAND in the USA in 2006!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/2/06


REEL_REVIEWER
KINO INTL set to release Mohammad Rasoulof's IRON ISLAND in the USA in 2006!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/2/06
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