The Persian Crocodile

Crocodile–human relationships are still largely unexamined in cinema, which no doubt has to do with the reptile’s unwillingness to engage in attempts to get closer. Also in Houchang Allahyari’s and Maziyar Moshtagh Gohary’s documentary The Persian Crocodile, this relative of the dinosaurs is mainly experienced with a wide open jaw—prepared to defend against human advances with a sudden snap at any moment. However, in this case, the crocodile, a particularly impressive example due to its size, desperately needs help as it has become imprisoned in a cistern following a flood in the southeast Iranian city of Balutschestan. It has no chance of escape on its own. A stand-off: on the one side, a frightened, recalcitrant animal, and on the other, two men who want to free it but are not so sure of how.