|
|
| |
|
| |
 |
House of
Saddam is as riveting as a reality television show with multiple
elimination rounds and family feuds per episode.
Saddam Hussein is a figure that has sparked a thousand words,
several wars and even after his death, he still is talked about.
Two years after he was executed, Saddam's face can still be
seen on numerous posters in myriad shops in the Middle East,
and there's a roaring tourist business in the Arab world where
street sellers peddle old Iraqi currency bearing Saddam's face
(I confess to having bought several hundreds in worthless currency
just for the novelty value).
However, the aura surrounding the man who the West wooed in
decades past and then ruthlessly hunted as Iraq fell to coalition
forces in the 2003 invasion, has been captured in a BBC/HBO
mini-series titled, in rather grandiose manner, the House of
Saddam. And while I doubt that any cinematic venture can capture
Saddam Hussein within the time limitations of its medium, House
of Saddam does a decent job in painting a picture of the former
Iraqi president. And the formula seems to have worked - MediaGuardian
reported that 2.7 million viewers in the UK tuned in to watch
the House of Saddam's first episode.
In a shift from what has been said and written about Saddam,
House of Saddam deals with his family. And while several viewers
have criticized how little time has been given to important
political events in the mini-series, House of Saddam is in actuality
a portrayal of Saddam Hussein as the head of a truly dysfunctional
family, and the political events are a
|
 |
|
mere
backdrop at times. It also truly helps put your own life in perspective.
The introductory remark of one of the episodes was: "You think
your family has problems? Take a look inside the House of Saddam".
However, the events of Iraq from 1979 to 2003 do build a narrative
that help one understand why Saddam was who he was.
Divided into four episodes, the first part of House of Saddam begins
with him watching US President George Bush addressing the Iraqi people,
promising them freedom from Hussein. Saddam and his family disperse;
in one hilarious scene Saddam's first wife Sajida has to be torn away
by her daughters from hurriedly packing crystal glasses, after they
tell her 'we can buy more!'
And Saddam's dysfunctional household is truly entertaining. From a
wife that begins to dislike her husband since he murders her friend's
husband, who is Saddam's best friend to Saddam's children; a slew
of daughters and sons who all desperately want to idolize Saddam but
his actions force them to look upon him as an unbending man. Saddam,
on the other hand, loves his children deeply, and arranges marriages
for his daughters to suit his political interests, and looks upon
his sons as his eventual successors. But Saddam is portrayed a man
who believes in his own myth, and his self-delusion and constant paranoia
("I know a traitor before he knows himself") don't do much
for the mental health of his family. His older son Uday for example,
is a womanizer and drug user with a short fuse, who bats around brandishing
weapons, raping women and making fun of his brother-in-law, all with
a free license. In one chilling and dramatic scene, Uday interrupts
dancing at a club in Baghdad by firing in the air and yelling, "Why
aren't you celebrating?! We've just won a war!", after Saddam
has announced that Iraq is the victor in the Iran-Iraq war. Qusay,
the younger son, is too overawed by Saddam and too burdened with covering
up for Uday to be of much notice to his father.
And in Saddam's warped house, the feeling in the air is that loyalty
is above all. At no point is it permissible to criticize the head
of the family, and the only one who seems to be able to do so is Sajida,
but it always falls on deaf ears. And Saddam isn't the best example
of loyalty either. He cheats on his wife with a schoolteacher, Samira,
whose blonde hair and blind devotion to Saddam is all too appealing
to the dictator. Uday takes deep affront at Saddam's second marriage,
to the point where he even starts wondering whether he may be replaced
as heir-apparent if Samira were to bear Saddam a son. But after he
is jailed for killing one of Saddam's trusted lieutenants, he no longer
has much prominence in Saddam's nefarious plans. Though Sajida's reaction
to Samira is the best: she dyes her hair blonde and appears at a family
lunch sporting her new hairdo, only to have Saddam tell her, "I
think it looks cheap" when she asks for his opinion. Sajida leaves
the table in a huff - and it is a scene so reminiscent of family life
that I couldn't help but bursting out in laughter.
But even as Saddam eliminates anyone who is close to him, and orders
killings at random, life in the House of Saddam is not all about death
and destruction. There is this sense of dry wit, particularly when
investigations reveal a CIA satellite phone, which Saddam uses to
call the CIA and tell them off gently. There is also Saddam's air
of grandeur, best shown in a scene when Saddam uses a glass elevator
to make his grand entry at his youngest daughter's wedding.
Saddam's family continues to grow up and move on as do the events
of Iraq - the war with Iran, the Gulf War and then the UN nuclear
weapons investigations. And with these, Saddam's delusion, that he
is invincible and much loved in Iraq, that Iraq could be one of the
most powerful nations in the region under his helm, continues to grow.
At one point, he even has blood withdrawn from his body so he can
have a copy of religious scriptures written in his own blood.
Betrayal is unthinkable in the House of Saddam, and the punishment
meted out to those who attempt to do so becomes a complete bloodbath.
However, as Saddam flees Baghdad to live his last days out in a hovel
until he's captured, he seems of a more human figure than the imposing
President persona. He mourns his sons, says a painful goodbye to Samira
over the phone, and tries to think of comebacks from the precarious
situation he is in.
House of Saddam may be over-the-top dramatic, but the actors play
it up to the hilt. One is instantly transfixed with each episode,
wondering who will offend Saddam and meet his demise, or what new
paranoia Saddam will develop. It isn't meant to humanize Saddam, I
feel, but an attempt to show an unheard angle of the story of Saddam
Hussein. Kudos to the makers for putting on such a great show.
-- Saba Imtiaz
House
of Saddam is available at several movie/music stores, and for download
online.
|
| |
| |
|
