The Situation

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.

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.

Great story about the chaos and constant change of events in Iraq and the damage caused from miscommunication. The movie provides a view into what happens when multiple entities are trying to work together while at the same time each is more interested in their own agenda. The multiple entities in this film included the CIA, the US Military, the Iraq police, an Iraq community leader, and an Iraq underground leader. In addition to these groups there was also a reporter and photographer smack in the middle. The movie is a fictional film, however it was written by a reporter who has been in Iraq for a long time, not embedded with the US military, but out working on her own, therefore even though the movie is a fictional film it is based on the realities of living and working in this war torn part of our world. The casting was excellent and the story unfolded perfectly. This movie required the viewer to pay attention and keep track of the players and each of their agendas. It was fast paced and kept the audience involved. It was not a "Hollywood" film full of gratuitous violence, but instead a deeper story about the people involved. I saw this movie at the Palm Springs Film Festival and also enjoyed the Q&A session which followed the movie. It is a provocative film that evokes an emotional reaction from the viewers regarding their opinions about the US being in Iraq, which was demonstrated during the Q&A session! One of the goals of the film is to provide a starting point for discussing the war and the events in Iraq. It is not a political statement, but instead a method to get people actively involved again.

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

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.