The Situation

This movie is good. And I mean really well done. If you are looking for a movie without too much political agenda, then this is the one. It takes you right on the ground, on the streets and in the houses of Iraq. It showcases the torment and mistrust that has grown in the hearts of people there. It has the look and feel of an indie, at the same time it is very well made. The acting is very good, at all the levels. The movie needs a careful viewing. It is NOT an action movie. It is a well spun out drama with very good character building and a superbly evolving storyline. This is my pick from all the movies on Iraq, along with No End In Site.

For me this movie is right up there with movies like Traffic, Syriana and Bloody Sunday, offering a kaleidoscopic view into a very complex political situation. You're taken into the heart of the Iraqi conflict and you'll get to look at the situation from different sides. From people living there, having to deal with their daily hardships and things getting worse all the time, from a reporters perspective, from the American military trying to restore order, etc. etc. Rather than taking sides, this movie shows you it's about people. And they all look at the situation differently. It's just like the Dan Murphy (Damian Lewis) in the movie states: "There is no truth, you know. It's not about locking up all the bad guys. It doesn't work like that. There are no bad guys and there are no good guys. It's not gray, either. It's just that the truth shifts according to each person you talk to."

Before I tear into this flaws of this film, I must say that the overall story is one that should be heard. The events that take place are very accurate reflections of "the situation" in Iraq, and the dialog spoken accurate reflections of the thoughts and feelings of those impacted by it. It is a movie that is worth seeing for anyone who wants a fairly accurate portrayal of the country and how it has been impacted by the war.

However, numerous aspects of the production take away from the experience.

1. Although it shouldn't impact the experience of the Western audience, one key flaw in this film is the Arabic language. The Arab actors, mostly Moroccan, don't speak in their native Arabic dialect but use fusha, or Modern Standard Arabic. The level of fluency in MSA varies from actor to actor, some of them speaking it smoothly and others butchering it. In many cases it is clear the actors are not at ease in the language. I feel if the director was not aiming at authenticity (by having their actors learn Iraqi Arabic), they should have just let the actors speak in their native tongue rather than MSA, which feels forced.

2. Closely related, a lot of the minor Arab roles were just terribly acted, the actors and actresses largely devoid of emotion or expression and monotone in their dialog. Many of them really appear to just be reciting lines, not acting. Iraqis (and other Arabs of the region) are very expressive when they speak, both in their facial expressions and in their gestures. Many of the smaller characters seemed entirely one-dimensional in that regard. Having lived in the region for a few years, many of the actors (extras mostly) were unconvincing.

3. The romantic subplot seemed convoluted and was not very convincing. It distracted from more important themes in the film.

4. Even in 2003 when this movie takes place (before the violence peaked), a tall, blonde American woman with no Arabic language skills would not be able to so easily travel around Iraq independently with only her scrawny teenage translator, especially in such conservative areas as Samarra. My wife is Iraqi and found this aspect of the film particularly unfeasible.

5. The naive right-wing ideologue character is a bit too much like a stereotypical characterture. Again, one dimensional and unconvincing.

6. Like many movies filmed in Morocco that are supposed to take place in Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, there are many subtleties that are inaccurate, from the architecture to the types of cars driven, and this film doesn't really give me the feeling of being in Iraq. For example, I don't recall seeing a single portrait or statue of Saddam in the entire film. Green Zone (which, while primarily shot in Morocco, also incorporates many sequences shot in Iraq) and the Battle of Haditha (shot in Jordan) depict the subtleties of Iraq much better. The Hurt Locker also does a decent job of this, as does Three Kings.

I suppose those are my main complaints, but they are mostly technical and related to the film-making, not the story which was generally well-written.

Still, I'd recommend Green Zone and Battle of Haditha over this.

The stunningly beautiful and cool blonde, Connie Neilson, contrasts vividly with the dark and passionate Iraqis she meets in this journey through occupation hell in Iraq. This fine drama delivers many wrenching moments on a modest budget, and depicts a serious mess in Iraq that compares negatively with the former regime of Saddam Hussein, who was so vilified to their own peoples by the lawless invaders, while many of the Iraqis on balance welcomed having a strong man in power. All the ambiguities are portrayed here, except the most salient and disgusting: the American occupiers' orgy of torture in the very prisons that Saddam used for the same purpose. Only towards the climax is there an interrogation scene that hints of the possibility of brutality, but the action pulls away and fails to confront the most urgent issue confronting American jurisprudence today. However, despite this important flaw, THE SITUATION is to be highly recommended as a courageous dramatisation of a state slipping towards failure while under the occupation of the US empire.

THE SITUATION is an eye-opener for the general public who have been kept guessing as to what is happening in the Iraqi War by the edited reporting in the media. It has all the markings and possibilities of a significant statement movie, but unfortunately the seemingly sound script (Wendell Steavenson) and the solid acting are all but lost by the engineers who allowed the dialog to be inaudible: not only is the ambient sound in a war-torn country not controlled by the Dolby process, but the insipid music score covers what free space there might have been for us to hear what the characters are saying. For lip readers the story might make sense, but for other viewers it is a tough uphill fight.

Anna (Connie Nielsen) is a journalist sent to cover the war to send home to the public a realistic view of what is happening in Iraq. She is aided by friendly Iraqis such as Rafeeq (Nasser Memarzia) and informed of American crimes against Iraqis and becomes involved in a dangerous journalistic mission, one that gives many insights into all of the aspects of the Iraqi conflict. She finds love with two men, a CIA operative Dan Murphy (Damian Lewis) who represents the idealistic vision of helping supply the country with medical assistance, and an Iraqi photographer Zaid (Mido Hamada) whose gentle spirit and warm support win Anna's respect, and the love triangle comes into strident focus when the forces involved in espionage clash in a climatic conflict while Anna is held hostage.

Thankfully, the Arabic conversations are accompanied by subtitles and the audience is thus more able to understand the Iraqi side of the story than the inaudible English spoken dialog apparently explaining the American aspects. The cast seems strong (especially Nielsen, Lewis and Hamada) and the supporting cast is excellent. While THE SITUATION is not meant to be the 'tell-all' of the complex Iraqi story, it at least gives credence to both sides of opinion. And that is what could have made the movie well worth seeing. Philip Haas digs in and gives us a tough dose of what the war is about - if only we could hear the dialog! Grady Harp