HBO’s middle-east mafia mini-series, House of Saddam, came to a rousing conclusion Sunday night. Personally, I would have liked another two hours to properly tell the tale of Iraq’s vile dictator and his wacky family, but beggars can’t be choosers. There’s more than enough blood and betrayal in the final two chapters to satisfy.
Part III picks up where last week ended with Saddam declaring victory after the U.S. led coalition successfully extracted Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Using Saddam’s twisted logic you can place a check in the win column even though your elite army is destroyed and left to burn in the desert.
I kinda get where he’s coming from; it’s not as if the U.S. marched to Baghdad and finished the job. Evidently, the powers-that-be decided engaging Iraqi forces in an urban center the size of Baghdad would be foolish and could result in an endless quagmire. Where did they get a crazy idea like that from?
Jumping ahead to 1995, Iraq is crippled by sanctions and a group of annoying United Nations’ weapons inspectors is canvassing the country in search of naughty nukes. To help distract from his country falling apart, Saddam takes up a new hobby: transcribing the Koran in his own blood. All I ever did was collect model trains, which seems boring by comparison.
The action hastens after Saddam’s right-hand-man, Hussein Kamel, defects to Jordan to cut a deal with the CIA. Hussein has secrets to sell, but Saddam pulls a switcheroo and hands over documents to the U.N. inspectors, thus rendering Hussein’s info worthless. Then Saddam invites his old pal back to Iraq with a promise he’ll be safe. Kamel, ever the dope, returns with little fanfare and is eventually shot and killed. Never trust a madman. Lesson learned.
The final act advances ahead to 2003: Operation Iraqi Freedom. Saddam’s wife and daughters flee to Syria on the eve of the invasion. Meanwhile, Uday and Qusay migrate from hideout to hideout trying to elude capture. Their luck runs dry after a cousin rats them out to the Americans. A violent firefight ends in their deaths.
Saddam, along with a few trusted servants, escapes to Tikrit and moves into a quaint chalet with a lovely view of the Tigris. Life is great for a couple months, but the Americans soon descend on Saddam’s secluded paradise and drag the haggard tyrant from his spider hole. You know the rest of the story.
House of Saddam does a credible job depicting Saddam’s reign of terror. From caring father to brutal strongman, the series does its best to paint a picture of the complete man. It succeeds to a degree, although using the “I was abused by my stepfather” excuse does nothing to garner sympathy for one of history’s most notorious leaders.
I praised Yigal Naor’s portrayal of Saddam last week, but there are other performances worth noting. Philip Arditti is spot on playing the disturbed Uday; his gun waving and cocaine sniffing reminded me of Tony Montana in Scarface. Equally impressive is Amr Waked as the doomed Hussein Kamel. Watching him devolve from loyalist to pariah is one of the more intriguing subplots.
Overall, House of Saddam does nothing to tarnish HBO’s incredible reputation for producing quality mini-series. I wonder if HBO has another Iraq movie on the docket. My fingers are crossed for a tell-all expose on Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, aka “Baghdad Bob.” Remember him?
If you need a refresher, here it is:
Clacked by Scott Tunstall 
on Dec 15, 2008 @ 17:00 EST5EDT
