Iron Island (Jazireh ahani, 2005)

Starring Ali Nasirian

Written and directed by Mohammad Rasoulof

A community of impoverished Iranian Arabs have made their home on a rusting, slowly sinking tanker, under the firm rule of Captain Nemo, I mean Nemat (Ali Nasirian). It's part slum, part commune and all allegory. The citizens keep livestock and break off bits of the ship for industrial use; later they even drill for oil below deck. There's a cute kid, a cute old man and a pair of star-crossed lovers, but the Captain is the dominant character, keeping track of everyone's "accounts" but never seeming to enforce their payment. Nasarian plays him as a quasi-religious figure, firm in the belief that only through his absolute leadership can his people prosper. He, and the movie, seem mostly harmless until one extremely striking sequence of punishment. After that, we know there'll be no happy ending.

B PLUS