AFS Essentials Presents Iron Island

Tonight, as part of their Children of Abraham/Ibrahim: Films of North Africa and the Middle East series, the Austin Film Society presents Iron Island, Mohammad Rasoulof’s eerie, allegorical drama about a community of Iranian squatters living on a decaying oil tanker anchored somewhere in the Persian Gulf.

The ship is full of strange characters: a schoolteacher who insists the boat is slowly sinking; an eccentric old man who spends his days staring into the sun and a young boy who catches fish in the bowels of the vessel only to release them over the side. But the story focuses on Captain Nemat, the ship’s self-appointed landlord, father figure and enforcer; an alternately friendly and ferocious man whose commitment to the people on board the ship is never quite clear.

As the ship’s inhabitants work to slowly dismantle their home and sell it for scrap (there’s some allegory for you), outside interests threaten to prematurely destroy their floating utopian society, forcing them to relocate and readjust in order to survive. A subplot involving the Captain’s assistant Ahmad and his young lover (known only as “The Girl”) adds some drama, but ultimately isn’t central to the film’s success.

Though the ship clearly represents a microcosm of Iranian society, it’s not immediately clear what lessons we’re supposed to learn from Iron Island. Its ambiguous central figure and open-ended finale give it a sense of realism that isn’t usually attached to parables, but that ultimately lend the film its unusual power. And, of course, the ship itself is one of Iron Island’s most interesting characters, turning some otherwise run-of-the-mill scenes into stunning, rusted-out works of art.

AFS Essentials: Iron Island
Tuesday, February 20th
Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar
7pm, $4 / Free for AFS Members
[Tickets]