Iron Island

2005 1h 26m FA

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 23

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Squatters live on a mothballed oil tanker in the Persian Gulf. The children attend a school on board; men harvest scrap metal and old oil in the hull; women keep house and raise children and Captain Nemat runs it all with an iron hand. We follow a lad who rescues fish trapped in the hull, an old man who stares at the sun, the idealistic teacher, and Ahmad, the Captain's assistant who has fallen in love with a young woman whose father wants to marry her to someone of means. What future has this sinking city?

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Ali Nasirian
Captain Nemat
Hossein Farzi-Zadeh
Ahmad
Neda Pakdaman
Golpar Salehi

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Mohammad Rasoulof
Writers: Mohammad Rasoulof
Languages: Persian
Countries: Iran

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

86 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 21 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof, shot by Reza Jalali. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Mohammadreza Aligholi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Bahram Dehghani shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ali Nasirian and Hossein Farzi-Zadeh and Neda Pakdaman carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0472113 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mohammad Rasoulof directs. Reza Jalali behind the camera. Mohammadreza Aligholi scores. Bahram Dehghani cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Iran. Dialogue in Persian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

186 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Released 21 years ago.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof, shot by Reza Jalali. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Mohammadreza Aligholi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Bahram Dehghani shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Ali Nasirian and Hossein Farzi-Zadeh and Neda Pakdaman carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt0472113 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 23 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.