The Situation

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.

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."

This film sums up what I have come to believe about the war in Iraq, and does it very well. Almost all of the other comments on it in this forum are accurate, in my estimation. It's remarkable that so much was accomplished with so little money-roughly one percent of the budget of Apocalypse Now, for example. The production values are so high in most respects that I have to conclude that the confusing ambient sound track was a conscious choice of the director's. The story is told, at times, from the viewpoint of the Iraqi characters, a remarkable feat in itself. At least a third of the dialogue is in Arabic, with subtitles. Like "Three Kings", the film shows the Iraqis not as villains or caricatures, but just as people stuck in a crummy situation for which America is responsible. One of the other reviewers quotes Damien Lewis' character stating the basic premise of the film:"There is no truth, you know....It's just that the truth shifts according to each person you talk to." The reviewer came close, but he missed one line that summed up The Situation for me: "...because the truth is covered over with layers of agenda."

Finally, if, ten or fifteen years from now, anyone is still interested in what was going on in the American war in Iraq, this film stands as the most convincing description I've seen.

I didn't expect a lot from this movie, having never heard about it. Very good. It portrays events in the story line without judgement, but you can see ( as other reviewers have mentioned) that the truth and the "right and wrong" "good guy / bad guy" all, depend on your point of view. There are no good guys or bad guys. The main character was merely a guide through the story and did not get in the way by insulting the audience with any moralizing. She kept the emotion by, in word, action and demeanor displaying what a shame the whole situation is. The best thing about this movie is that it really makes you realize the depth of how much your views, if they are staunch in any particular direction, may be misguided. The world is way more complicated than the the media or any one person (with their own agenda however innocent) can can convey.

It doesn't really matter which side of the political spectrum you come from, this movie will get you thinking. The horror of daily existence in Iraq, the violence and insecurity, the hatred and hopelessness. The good people trying to survive the bad situation, and the bad people who thrive in this hell on earth. And, of course, obvious to every thinking person, the lack of any viable solution for these, for centuries victimized people. This is a brave little independent movie with beautifully etched characters, and powerful massage. You can not bring democracy by force. Force brings only more force and more blood. Avoiding these facts might be politically prudent, but it is morally abhorrent.