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Reviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
MAROONED IN IRAQ
In the beginning of this engrossing drama, a thriving black marketer in Iranian Kurdistan
praises Saddam Hussein, “Thanks to him I make more money.” His clientele are the
incoming Iraqi refugees following Saddam’s crushing of the 1991 Kurdish uprising. But
later in the film when he has been robbed, stripped, and left stranded in the frigid
mountains by thieves, his sentiments toward Saddam change: “May he burn in hell.”
Filmed in 2002 in Iran, this film will undoubtedly resonate with viewers after this year’s
Iraqi war. It follows an aging Kurdish father in a search of one of his wives who left him
years ago with another husband for Iraq, where she’s allowed to publicly sing. He has
heard that she needs his help. Mirza (Ebrahimi), a respected folk singer, insists that his two sons,
both musicians, accompany him: Audeh (Rashtian), with seven wives and 11 daughters, rants like a
Kurdish Henry VIII, and obedient Barat (Mohammadi) owns a highly valued motorbike. Bickering along
the way, their odyssey takes them to refugee camps, a shotgun wedding, a close call with
Saddam’s bombs, and into decimated Kurdish Iraq. Although the plot may be not always
be clear (why does Mirza need Audeh to leave his family?), it is touching without ever
being manipulative with a healthy dose of dark humor as an anodyne to this close-knit
community’s pain.
Extras: In his revealing 20-minute interview, director Ghobadi offers his own method -
“The scenes I write are taken from real life. I recreate real life. When you do
that, the actors don’t act anymore. They just re-live their lives in front of my
camera.” KT
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