| Marooned in Iraq | 
 enlarge | Director: Bahman Ghobadi
Actors: Shahab Ebrahimi, Faegh Mohamadi, Allah-morad Rashtian, Rojan Hosseini, Saeed Mohammadi
Studio: Fox Lorber
Category: DVD
List Price: $24.98
Buy New: $14.50
You Save: $10.48 (42%)
New (9) Used (9) from $10.35
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 84093
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: Kurdish (Original Language), Persian (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 97
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 5392
ISBN: 0794204066
UPC: 720917539225
EAN: 9780794204068
ASIN: B0000AKCLX
Theatrical Release Date: 2002
Release Date: October 7, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Description
During the Iran-Iraq war, an aging Iranian-Kurd musician hears that his wife, a singer with a magical voice who deserted him for his best friend and fled Iraq, is in trouble. He cons his two sons into acompanying him on his search for her, and they embark on an adventure filled with music, romance and danger. Acclaimed Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi's (A Time for Drunken Horses) award-winning film uses humor and wit to dramatize the plight of the Kurdish people.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Ingenious October 7, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I actually liked it better than Ghobadi's later film "Turtles Can Fly" which I watched previously. "Marooned in Iraq" is a shrewd film. From the beginning, provincial humor abounds with this musician father, accompanied by his two sons, as the three stumble their way from Kurdish Iran into Kurdish Iraq. They are searching in Iraq for one of the father's former wives who has sent him an important, evidently urgent, unread message which got lost by the deliverer. Along their way into Iraq, the two sons also find room for a searching of their own needs as well. Desire, humor, lots of music, compassion, affection, idiosyncrasies, marriages, dancing, small rivalries, petty thievery--all these life affirming experiences that they encounter and participate in, propel the trio like ricocheting pinballs deeper into the non-life-affirming landscape of Saddam's tyrannized northern Iraq.
Little by little the tragedy and brutality of the world they are entering grows larger and larger all around them. It's the father's personal quest, as well as the bond of the three--especially the love of the sons for their father and the father's insistence--which keeps them together and moving forward, undaunted, keeps them from freezing from cold and fear, despite the oppressed surroundings, the bombings, the constant threats of passing jet fighters, and the difficult natural elements. On the contrary, they hardly even acknowledge with any trembling at all the oppression and the dangers around them. There is life and celebration in spite of it all, and a goal to follow, and a more secure home to return to with gifts from ravaged Kurdish Iraq.
Ghobadi, the movie maker, carries us like children on his back, entertaining us along the way, having us stop and look, stop and look, and stop and look again until we realize that it's not all a laughing matter. He puts us down and lets us empathize, and sympathize, and then picks us up again and takes us back to the imposed border, which is not really a border at all, but just some intrusive rolled wire. The whole movie is a journey to hell and back simply to pick up hope. It's an amazing work of stealthy education for us who have not seen, and have not felt, the plight of the Kurds in Saddam's Iraq. In effect, the whole journey itself, and where it ends up, and what it requires, becomes the ex-wife's urgent message.
The DVD has a short, but very illuminating interview with Ghobadi about his goals and creative technique. He is already a master filmmaker working close to his subject matter, and is clear on his intentions, and will, for sure, give us more film greats as his career continues.
 Typical Ghobadi February 7, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Not as impressive like "A Time for Drunken Horses" or "Turtles also can fly", but still a great testimony of the life in Kurdistan.
non-stop screaming December 9, 2005
Sure the film is about hardship in a very difficult place, wonderfully shot, and all. but the film will assault you with NON-STOP SCREAMING. I love difficult cinema but this kind of screaming-dialogue is insane! The characters scream at each other constantly. Screaming in pain, screaming for love, screaming for vengence, screaming for ice cream! The film makers would have done us a favor if they would've included a second audio track of pure high-pitched white noise.
Puts a face on a "faceless" people October 6, 2004
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This film gets you up close and personal with the Kurds, a people with no country of their own. It gives you a glimpse of their suffering at the hand of Saddam's regime, their hopes, dreams and the geography that they call their home. Some very funny parts too... like the scene with the young lady telling off the old guy with too many wives. The brick factory scenes constitute some particularly interesting camera work.
Across the Border: Three Kurdish Musicians' Road Movie July 13, 2004
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
The Kurdish film director Bahman Ghobadi ("A Time for Drunken Horses") gives us his second film, about three musicians, the aged father and his sons, who are going to find the father's wife who left him long time ago. The film is benefited from the beautifully shot pictures, with a clear-cut portraits of the main characters. And this is rare with films from Iran (where the director was born), but the film has enchanting ethnic music which is not to be missed.During the time of the war between Iraq and Iran, Mirza, once very popular singer, receives sad news: his wife Hanareh, who eloped with another musician and went to Iraq years ago, is in great trouble. Mirza, living in Iran, decides to see her, but that means he must cross the border, where the snow-capped mountains prevent the access. So he summons his sons, Audeh and Barat. Barat happens to have a motorcycle, and Mirza takes no for answer even if Barat and Audeh (they are not Hanareh's sons, and think her as disgrace to the family) refuse to accompnay him. So they start the journey to Iraq, hearing the incessant, terrifying noise of jet fighters. The film traces their travel sometimes with a comical touch, but it ultimately raises its tone to the very somber feeling at the end where Mirza comes to know what happened to Hahareh, and other thousands of the Kurdish people in Iraq. The film is made with an agenda, which is not hidden at all, but thankfull it is free from any obvious political messages or preachy words. Anyone who are interested in the Middle East must know the sad history of the Kurdish people, and the film uses the knowledge as the backdrop against which the three convincingly made characters move. They are all flawed, often bickering to each other, but eventually overcome the obstacles set in their ways, if not the harsh reality surrounding them. The film's great merit is its music. In fact, the three main leads are all played by the real musicians, and the film occasionally allows them (and other Kurds, who are really enjoying the sound) to play some tunes, which are fascinating. The film eloquently shows that the Kurdish people are in a way characterized by their music and the joy, which cannot be taken away even by the bombers or dictators. The film is slow-moving, but the move is steady and skillful, with the visual flair of the director. "Marooned In Iraq" is a simple and beautiful film with its understated but clear message. Hahareh (Iran Ghobadi) is actually played by the mother of the director.
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