House of Saddam - Review: part 1

With much anticipation I sat to watch the first part of the four part BBC drama, House of Saddam last night. It was billed as the must-see TV and after the first offering, I am certainly looking forward to next week’s episode even though on many fronts, the writers failed to delve deeper in to the main character that is Saddam.

Over the past 20 years or so, people across the world came to know of the dictator that was Saddam from the regular appearances on TV that showed him to be nothing more than a power hungry, ruthless, misguided and loathsome figure who considered himself indispensable in the geo-politics of the Mid-East. Like him or loathe him (and most people did in the West) there was no denying the complex character and stature of the man who even with the noose round his neck, smirked at his detractors.

The drama unfolded at the setting of the birthday party for Saddam’s daughter where President Bakr was told by Saddam and his henchmen to “resign” his post in no uncertain terms. A strange place to start the drama indeed given that Saddam had spent the best of forty years building up to that moment yet the writers failed to tell us anything about what drove him to be the way he was. One by one, he did away with all those who got in his way including the massacre and desecration of Dujail where an assassination attempt was made on Saddam’s life. All this drama within the first half an hour of the series! One was left feeling rather short changed because we learnt little about the character and what made him think the way he did. Above all, by beginning the drama at the point when Saddam assumed power, the writers had avoided having to search deeper into the early years of Saddam and his life. What they did tell us was peculiarly familiar, possibly because they mirrored the stories and footage we had come to see and hear about during the last two decades.

Covering Saddam Hussein, in any capacity, was not going to be easy. They had to get a universally (well almost) loathed character and humanise him. However, in the opening moments of this programme, with casting that, from the off, looked sublime, it certainly seemed that it was going to do the trick. Right from the outset, the cast and the sets captured the grandeur and depth of the Iraqi desert. In typical tried and tested fashion, the writers captured Saddam, like many biopics of bad people, as a loving, loyal family man and quickly moved to reveal a ruthless, menacing and evil character Like most cold-blooded murderers, it hinted that Saddam was a bit of a mummy's boy as well. In under ten minutes, Saddam was shown as cruel, ambitious, unsettlingly calm and all the things you associate with the truly despicable.
Igal Naor who plays Saddam, managed to portray him warm enough to keep us guessing as to what will be unraveled in the coming episodes. He has grasped the style and demeanor of Saddam to pull off the many graphic murders (point blank, close range, firing squad head shots) and atrocities. He was very ably supported by a whole host of characters who will grow into their roles.
From inciting incredible fear to those that surrounded him (executed with aplomb by the whole cast) to the more familiar guerilla tactics of bombings and attacks on the streets of Baghdad, the sets were spot on, at least from a televisual spectacle, as it lived up to what I'd hoped it would be. In amongst the gore and power struggles where other scenes that were equally powerful, he death of Saddam's mother was intense and the Saddam's wooing of a woman, right in front of her husband.

Production values were as impressive but there was an over reliance on stock footage. This is where the drama lacked authenticity and depth many yearned. There was far too much reference made to over familiar footage from news channels and propaganda clips. Nonetheless, they were accommodated well within the slick editing.

The actors are certainly playing out of their skin and it would interesting to see if they sustain this level of tension and menace. It’s a very good start and although it’s a bit odd to be enjoying the life of someone so terrible, the writer’s have so far managed a mix that may be lacking depth but certainly not entertainment.