Monte Hellman’s reputation for making artful B-movies was made in the mid-sixties with a pair of westerns; The Shooting (1966) and Ride In The Whirlwind (1966). It is for these films and Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) that Hellman is best known. Hellman’s films from the late seventies onwards are equal to and in some cases superior to these better known works. Despite being a favorite director amongst filmmakers Hellman always had to struggle to get his pictures made. In the case of Iguana (1988), Hellman was approached by producer Franco Di Nunzio.
Adapted from a novel by Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa, Iguana tells the story of Oberlus (Everett McGill), a sailor who flees an abusive crew and sets himself up as the king of Hood Island. Gradually Oberlus enslaves ship wrecked sailors and visitors, exacting his revenge on society by inflicting all manner of tortures on these innocents. Oberlus’ authority and status is eventually challenged by Carmen (Maru Valdivieso), a courtesan.
Hellman reworked the original script, edited and directed Iguana after a decade long hiatus from filmmaking. His film of the Oberlus legend uses the tale as a means of examining civilization in microcosm. Oberlus, having been abused by societal norms and structures, endeavors to create his own on Hood Island through brute force. Oberlus chops off two of his slave Sebastian’s (Michael Madsen) fingers and duels the insurrectionist Gamboa (Fabio Testi) to the death.
Hellman spends the first quarter of the film cross-cutting from Oberlus’ brutal efforts towards building his own society with Carmen’s struggle to assert herself in the patriarchal culture of Spain. These cuts occur so that Carmen seemingly finishes Oberlus’ sentence in the previous shot. But these are two very different perspectives on the inherent flaws in our socio-political environment. When these characters meet the two opposing perspectives clash and offer the only significant resistance to Oberlus’ tyranny.
Oberlus is not grotesque because of his facial deformity, but because of his cruel and vile acts. Yet, Hellman suggests that it is men like Oberlus who have built and shaped our world. It’s this message that gives Oberlus’ sadistic acts their punch. Iguana is a relentless look at the shortcomings and compromises of Western civilization.
