Marooned
in Iraq (Gomgashtei dar Aragh), directed
by Bahman Ghobadi, is perhaps an Iranian counterpart
of Saving
Private Ryan (1998). Mirza (played
by Shahab Ebrahimi) has been summoned by his estranged
fourth spouse, Hanareh, presumably from a place in
Iran's Kurdistan at the border with Iraq. A consummate
singer, she has been entertaining refugees streaming
out of Iraq due to the chemical warfare conducted by
Saddam Hussein against the Kurds in the aftermath of
the Gulf War of 1991. As a good husband, Mirza proceeds
to the northwest corner of Iran with his sons Audeh
(played by Allah-Morad Rashtian) and Barat (played
by Faegh Mohammadi); all three men and Hanareh are
renowned musicians. While the three travel to the snowbound
north, they hear of a litany of atrocities committed
by Saddam Hussein against the Kurds. The first word
about the fate of the Kurds comes from a fellow traveler,
who goes to the border to trade, boasting that he makes
a lot of money selling to the refugees; but in time
he is stripped of all his money and most of his clothes
by unidentified bandits among the refugees. Two other
men, including one who claims to be a police officer,
are also stripped of all but thermal underwear by thieves.
At one point, Mirza and his two sons reach the border,
at a camp consisting of children who have been orphaned
by Saddam Hussein, whose forces massacred all the people
in an Iraqi Kurdistan town. While they are learning
from a schoolteacher (played by Saeed Mohammadi), they
observe Iraqi planes bombing various targets, including
villages and refugee convoys. Audeh has no son despite
attempts with seven wives, so he is overjoyed when
two of the female refugee workers informs him that
he can easily adopt two sons from the camp; he is especially
pleased that he can gain male heirs without the inconvenience
of having an eighth wife, though he is scolded by one
of the women in the camp for his sexism. Meanwhile,
Barat begins a love affair with one of the women. As
Mirza is about to trudge forward to Iraq's Kurdistan
in the snow beyond the camp, which may contain landmines,
Barat wants to accompany him. However, the schoolteacher
warns Mirza that Iraqi authorities will capture his
son, force him to be a soldier in their army, and he
might never be seen again. Accordingly, Mirza tells
Barat to stay behind and consummate the incipient love
affair. When he reaches Raman, the village where Hanareh
is supposed to reside, he discovers that the town no
longer exists; indeed, the Kurds are discovering mass
graves. The residents have either been shot, captured,
or have fled. Because of the use of chemicals, the
few surviving women are disfigured and unable to produce
milk for their infants. One of the women is Hanareh,
but she refuses to identify herself to Mirza, and her
voice has been so damaged by the chemical warfare that
Mirza cannot recognize her. Instead, she gives Mirza
her son so that he can care for him. Hanareh, in short,
called for Mirza to take a long and perilous trip to
give her son a chance to live. The obvious contrast
between the caring Iranians in the film and the evidence
of brutality of the Saddam Hussein may appear to be
an exercise in propaganda, but political aspects are
in the background. The foreground of the plot is about
a husband who dutifully responds to a call of distress
from a wife whom he has not seen in the twenty-three
years since she decided to abandon him and live in
Iraq's Kurdistan as wife of another man, Seyed, who
in turn he learns toward the end was yet another victim
of Saddam Hussein. At the same time, the film can be
seen as a plea for better treatment of the Kurds. Based
on the fact that Iran provided a safe haven to many
Iraqi refugees for more than a decade, Marooned
in Iraq also explains why Iran will have
a great deal of popularity in post-Saddam Iraq. Indeed, Marooned
in Iraq is the first movie to open in
newly liberated Baghdad. Accordingly, the Political
Film Society has nominated Marooned in
Iraq as best film exposé of 2003.
MH
I
want to comment on this film
