Saddam's Tribe, a docu-drama based on interviews by Raghad Hussein, a.k.a the bitch of Baghdad, a flatering nickname considering she is the daughter of the butcher of Baghdad. Truth be told it isn't a bad film. I discovered Saddam and his henchmen were actually humans with feelings...they sleep, eat, hate and love like other human beings, that was the first shock for me. Raghad, at the time, really believed that the Iraqi people loved her father but whats extraordinary is that today, she still can't see the difference between 'love' and 'fear'. Her father was a lovely man who loved his family (albeit the few murders here and there), his people (not including the hundreds of thousands of them he slaughtered) and his country (which he destroyed).
The film starts in 1995, so thats after the bloody coup d’état, after the Iraq-Iran war, after the Anfal massacre, after the Gulf War and after the genocide in 1991. Yes granted that part was "difficult" for poor Raghooda but not nearly as difficult as fleeing to Jordan and eventually becomming a divorcee. Cue the violins please...
Warning: A few graphic scenes
9 comments:
I watched this on channel 4
look how she tries and makes her husband look like some sort of hero who got shot while defending his family...when in real life that never even happened and his family were not even killed by saddam
altoghther it was a dirty movie (albeit well-produced) and showed saddam in too flattering a light.
i really wish they would make a movie about 1991 revolution or about the iran-iraq war and bring those atrocities to the big screen...but i doubt that will happen.
I wonder how much money the bitch has given to the "resistance" that has mass murdered Iraqis. Old habits die hard.
Good movie but some mistakes
- Saddam imprisoned Uday and shot him in the leg as punishment for shooting Watban.
- Hussain and Saddam Kamel died after a 12 hour gun fight and were not executed by Chemical Ali as shown in the movie.
- Uday was much more of a psychopath in real life. Qusay was too soft and calm in the movie.
Maury linked to this on my blog: "Iyad Addin is a politician, a cleric, and a strong advocate for the separation of church and state. He’s also come under fire for his secular political beliefs, surviving at least four assassination attempts. Jamal Addin was born in Najaf, a mostly Shiite city in southern Iraq. He fled Iraq in the late 1970s, first to Syria, then to Iran, where he studied theology and philosophy for eight years. He returned to Iraq in 2003 following the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, and is a member of parliament for the Iraqi National List party. He wears the traditional head-dress and robes of a Muslim cleric – but believes that Iraq should be a secular state, where politics is free from religious interference. He’s faced a lot of criticism from fellow Shiite clerics for his beliefs."
Maybe Raghada needs a hug. Maybe Layla Anwar and Riverbend will give her two.
You know, if only Saddam had gotten more hugs earlier on, it wouldn't have all gone wrong.
Some non Iraqi sunni arabs still support Saddam. Maybe they still believe Saddam had potential . . . if only he had been hugged more.
I personally doubt she sleeps well any way.
Gotta move on....
where are you?
You should watch the excellent BBC drama House of Saddam (BBC2 Wed 9:00pm)
A four-part BBC Two drama series telling the story of Iraq under Saddam Hussein's leadership from 1979 until his downfall and subsequent execution in 2006.
Igal Naor - appeared in Rendition and Munich - plays Saddam Hussein very powerfully and with great skill. His parents are Iraqi Jew and he lives with them in Tel-Aviv but he said that he tries to keep as much of the Iraqi traditions as possible! You should he hear him pronouncing the world Iraq with a very heavy aeen (3). The funniest part so far (part 3 will be televised 13 August) was when Saddam goes hunting / shooting with Qusay and he swears at him in Iraqi.
Apparently it took the writers (Alex Holmes –BAFTA winner- and Stephen Butchard) and researches took two years of research and interviews with members of the regime, from political allies to palace cooks and bodyguards, and from eyewitnesses and academics, to build up a picture of the dictator. This was after Saddam refused replying to their correspondence when he was imprisoned and facing execution - although his deputy Tariq Aziz did!
The BBC produced this in conjunction with HBO and they (BBC) had to go through large amount of legal and editorial policy to support this DRAMA. As the BBC focused on eth script and legality of this drama HBO heavily concentrated on casting, and its an international one, actors from Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Israel, London, LA, New York and Australia.
Most of the shooting location was done in Tunis… I guess it not only offered a close setting to Baghdad but I would say the safest or less political place to shoot such a piece of drama.
I must stress this is a powerful drama it really does captivate you. However I had to remind myself it is a fictional drama based on real events (they did get some details extremely accurate), Saddam Hussain, his family and his gang were slowly shown as humans with reasoning, motivation and personal circumstances being the explaining to their appalling actions and shocking behaviour.
Catch it on BBC Iplayer if you have missed previous episodes or watch out for the DVD release.
Think I said enough!
House of saddam on bbc 2 was also pretty good, being it was a lot more objective, it had re enactments of most of the 'defining moments' during saddam's reign. it was stuff that every iraq knew though anyway...
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