Gomgashtei dar Aragh (2002)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Bahman Ghobadi

Writer:

Bahman Ghobadi (writer)

Release Date:

29 May 2003 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Hope is eternal.

Plot:

During the war between Iran and Iraq, a group of Iranian Kurd musicians set off on an almost impossible mission...

Plot Keywords:

Oppression | Kurd | Kurdistan | Iraq | Iran

Awards:

5 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Shahab Ebrahimi	...	Mirza
Faegh Mohamadi	...	Barat
Allah-Morad Rashtian	...	Audeh
Rojan Hosseini	...	Rojan
Saeed Mohammadi	...	The Teacher
Iran Ghobadi	...	Hanareh
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mariam Pouyani
Hossein Rashid-Ghamat
Fathollah Sa'edi
Bahram Sarbazi

Also Known As:

Avazhayé sarzaminé madariyam (Iran: Persian title) (working title)
Marooned in Iraq (International: English title)
Songs of My Motherland (International: English title)

Runtime:

France:108 min (Cannes Film Festival)

Country:

Iran

Language:

Persian | Kurdish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Brazil:Livre | Malaysia:U | Norway:11

Company:

Mij Film Co.

Lost, not the TV show, in Iraq

The Iranian movie, Marooned in Iraq, is all about a husband who searches out his wife who is in trouble, but he has not seen her in 23 years. Mirza, the husband, was a famous singer that was well known in Iran. He had two sons (also singers), the oldest was Barat and the younger was Audeh. The main plot is to find Mirza's wife, Hanareh. The interesting scenes in the movie surround Iraq refugee camps in Iran, which Mirza and his sons have to search through to find out information about Hanareh.

The pace of the movie is not fast like that of a western film. The movie is very slow to reach the plot, but not too noticeable. The movie surrounds the time during the Iranian- Iraq war and shows barely any war scenes, but in the background are constant sounds of fighter planes. One scene shows the bombing of a city, while Mirza and his sons are traveling from refuge camp to refuge camp. The camera work is somewhat shaky because the camera man rides along the hood of the vehicles, but it's hardly noticeable. The scenery depicts much of Iraq and Iran by showing the snowy mountains and arid plains. The movie has many comic scenes between the constant chatter fighting between the family members.

Marooned in Iraq is a very enjoyable movie, even to a western audience. Although the movie is in English subtitles, it can still be quite enjoyable. The translator doesn't always switch all the words into subtitles, but understanding it isn't hard. The ending leaves the audience guessing what happened. The ending displays many options the audience can think of what has happened. In addition, the audience must keep close attention to the characters and the clues the director gives. This will help understand the ending because it is complicated and will make you wonder what has happened. The director's themes relay to the differences in gender among middle easterners, displays some government corruption (Suddam), shows a lot of tradition (song and dance) and displays political boundaries between Iran and Iraq. This film has educational aspects to it by seeing how the people interact with each other, the scenery, and how the people feel about their government. I recommend this film for its educational purposes, the scenery shown by the director, and it will entertain an audience until the very end with its comedy.