Photo: Neda Pakdaman as The Girl in Mohammad Rasoulof's Iron Island

Familiar as I may be with Iranian cinema, I'm in no way intimate enough with the country's more classical traditions to fully appreciate the literary precedents for many of Iron Island's images. But thankful as I am that we have people like Godfrey Cheshire to suss out the connections for us (an essay by this devoted scholar of Iranian cinema is tellingly attached to the film's press notes), I don't wish to give the impression that this delicate work can only be appreciated with a set of footnotes. Mohammad Rasoulof's examination of life on board a decrepit tanker in the Persian Gulf is anything but obtuse; it's clear-sighted and compassionate, a mythic expression of people in a constant state of flux. With the aid of Captain Nemat (Ali Nasirian), the mostly Arab population aboard the ship carves out an existence away from the prying and disdainful hands of the outside world. With little fuss, Rasoulof details the means by which this floating society operates from inside, but more interesting are his expressions of how the dignified community struggles to maintain a sense of self-sufficiency.   Ed Gonzalez