A Episode In The Life Of An Iron Picker (Danis Tanovic): Slovenia

Reviewed by Ryan McEwan. Viewed at AFI film fest 2013

An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker is a drama directed by Danis Tanovic. It tells the story of a husband Nazif who is a poor man the struggles to find a way to raise money so his wife Senada can have a surgery for her miscarriage, at the same time he must make money for his families everyday needs and electricity bill. He will literally do anything for his family, this is shown after he even chops his car to scrap just for some extra money. This film shows the adventure of a family from a different walk of life in Bonsia. It is very humbling to watch this movie because some of the things we take advantage of, Nazif works all day for.

This film is very low budget but carries a clear message of how to be grateful for things in this life. the camera shots were not amazing and there wasn’t even much said in the script but the director was still able to cary a strong message.

The lighting of this film was dim, it was winter and very cold, the surroundings were dark and depressing. The whole scene of the film all went with the flow of the film. I actually was very happy to see this film, it could truly make someone feel grateful for what they have and to always be happy. Nazif was a happy man till his wife’s problem and even still kept a smile with his children during the struggle but in the end was happy for everything he had.