‘Iron Island'

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Tuesday, September 29, 2009 - 4:23 PM Share

If anyone thinks that living in today's Iran is fun, check out the film Iron Island, which my wife and I watched last weekend as part of our continuing Iran After 2001 Festival. (It is available from Netflix.) Most striking was the scene where a teenager is waterboarded by the central authority.

For an odd double bill, I also watched the 1955 war film Dambusters. Very British. The needless (but historically accurate) use of the N-word was striking, but made the time feel as distant as the American Civil War. I mean, the British couldn't come up with a better code word for a target?

EXPLORE:CULTURE, MEDIA

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CHARLIEFORD

5:04 PM ET

September 29, 2009

I thought they called them . . .

. . . "fuzzy-wuzzies"?

TYRTAIOS

5:14 PM ET

September 29, 2009

No. Fuzzy Wuzzies were

No. Fuzzy Wuzzies were further down in Sudan. "for all the odds agin' you, Fuzzy-Wuz, you broke the square." - Dick Cheney (maybe)

EMBRA

5:15 PM ET

September 29, 2009

Why the name

It was the name of Gibson's black labrador dog. It had been killed in a car accident so they chose to commemorate it in this way. At the time the innocent British didn't realise the full meaning - as the other comment suggests, they had other ways to demonstrate their racism.

Ironically, the RAF at this time was depending on numbers of qualified pilots from all parts of the Empire, including the Caribbean. It's funny how fast racism recedes when you're being bombed.

STARBUCK

6:03 PM ET

September 29, 2009

What's funny about the Dam Busters

...what's amusing about The Dam Busters is that the climactic battle is almost shot-for-shot (and in some cases, line for line) the same as the Death Star attack in the first Star Wars movie...

IMC

8:17 PM ET

September 29, 2009

Film recs

"Iron Island" is good. Also, you should definitely check out "The Lizard" if you haven't already. It was a huge smash hit before it got banned in Iran--you can get DVDs with subtitles at iranianmovies.com