Iguana (Italy-Spain, 1988) 97 min color DIR: Monte Hellman. PROD: Franco Di Nunzio. SCR: Steven Gaydos, Monte Hellman, David M. Zehr. MUSIC: Franco Campanino. DOP: Josep M. Civit. CAST: Everett McGill, Maru Valdivielso, Fabio Testi, Jack Taylor, Michael Madsen. (Anchor Bay Entertainment)
Among the least-seen of Monte Hellman’s quirky pictures, Iguana is a beautifully shot, characteristically slow, admittedly bizarre allegory based on a novel by Albert Vasquez Figueroa. Everett McGill plays the title character, so named because of his deformity: half of his face has reptilian scales. After he is beaten by his shipmates, he escapes to a remote island where he begins to run his own empire of cruelty over anyone unfortunate enough to grace his path. Survivors of a shipwreck who wash up on shore become his unwilling slaves, and most tellingly, Carmen, a recent widow (the very photogenic Maru Valdivielso), becomes the recipient of his sexual violence. While certainly this film is not always pleasant, it is never exploitative. Hellman’s picture is respectable and literate. (On paper, this must have been quite a story.) Iguana is equally about Carmen, as she appears in some long early scenes before she crosses Iguana’s path, chronicling her subservience to men, and the consequences of this behaviour. McGill, is strikingly good as Iguana- he finds the conviction to his character’s warped sense of the world. For its interesting story, and Josep M. Civit’s lovely photography (contradictory to the anything-but-lovely human behaviour within), its slow pace still makes for a difficult watch, but it is definitely worth a look for Monte Hellman fans: thankfully made available for viewing by Anchor Bay.
Originally published in Vol. #1, Issue #9.
Greg Woods
Greg Woods has been a film enthusiast since his teens, and began his writing "career" at the same time- prolific in capsule reviews of everything he had watched, first on index cards, then those hardcover dollar store black journals, then an old Mac IIsi. He founded The Eclectic Screening Room in 2001, as a portal to share his film love with the world, and find some like-minded enthusiasts along the way. In addition to having worked in the film industry for over two decades, he has been a co-programmer of films at Trash Palace, and a programmer/co-founder of the Toronto Film Noir Syndicate. He has also written for Broken Pencil, CU-Confidential, Micro-Film, and is currently working on his first novel. His secret desire is for someone to interview him for a podcast or a DVD extra.