Marooned in Iraq

The film "Marooned in Iraq" follows the character of Mirza, a Kurdish musician, who hears word that his ex-wife Hanare is in trouble after she fled to Iraq from Iran to find peace. Through the accompaniment of his two sons, the three men set out to find the women by traveling across the Iran-Iraq border. The film is set in the backdrop of the Gulf war and its aftermath, aftermath that greatly affect Hanare. The men find themselves traveling under conditions of harsh terrain and extreme winter weather, only complicated and their current situation. Yet, these men are full of humour and love, and find themselves in experiences that can make for lighthearted humor. It was interesting to see the dynamics of these three men, as Mirza's selflessness and kindheart led them on an emotional family journey of their own. It is the discovery of a mass grave of dead Iranians that changes the forefront of the film. This gut-renching scene is filled with the omnipresent sound of mourning women and the noise of Saddam Husseins jets circling overhead. The trio finds these women lost and living in a nomadic manner, after the men of their villages were all murdered and attacked my chemical weapons, which affected some women as well. Yet, despite these conditions, the Kurds are exemplified as having amazing courage, courage that may have played an important role in sustaining their livelihood after Saddam's reign of terror.

The elements of the weather, along with the continous omnipresent sounds of griving and warfare ahead were what gave the film the emotional suspense element that it entailed. Images of abandoned villages, thousands of refugees, mass graves, and lost survivors gave the film the realistic elements of the cost of war. Yet, for me, it was the image of Mirza traveling across the Iran/Iraq border over scattered snow covered wire that exemplified the most. This scene showed the selflessness for others, the struggle of Mirza's journey, the disarray between countries at the time, and the element of love that prevailed over all of the negative components of the current situation of the country.