The Devil's Double (2011)

A chilling vision of the House of Saddam Hussein comes to life through the eyes of the man who was forced to become the double of Hussein's sadistic son.

Director:

Lee Tamahori

Writers:

Michael Thomas, Latif Yahia (books)

Stars:

Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Raad Rawi

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dominic Cooper	...	Uday Hussein / Latif Yahia
Ludivine Sagnier	...	Sarrab
Raad Rawi	...	Munem
Philip Quast	...	Saddam Hussein / Faoaz
Mimoun Oaïssa	...	Ali
Khalid Laith	...	Yassem Al-Helou
Dar Salim	...	Azzam
Mem Ferda	...	Kamel Hannah
Nasser Memarzia	...	Latif's Father
Pano Masti	...	Said
Akin Gazi	...	Saad
Stewart Scudamore	...	Father of School Girl
Amrita Acharia	...	School Girl
Elektra Anastasi	...	School Girl 2
Amber Rose Revah	...	Bride

Storyline

Baghdad, the playground for the rich and infamous, where anything can be bought - but for a price. This is Uday Hussein's world and with his depraved lust for debauchery and immorality, he helps himself to whatever turns him on. When army lieutenant Latif Yahia is summoned to Saddam's palace, he is faced with an impossible request - to be Uday's 'fiday' - his body double, or have his family condemned to death. In a world entrenched in betrayal and corruption, knowing who to trust becomes a matter of life or death for Latif, as he battles to escape from his forced existence.

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Plot Keywords:

palace | debauchery | uday hussein | body double | betrayal | 

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Taglines:

Money. Sex. Power. It's not enough.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong brutal bloody violence and torture, sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and pervasive language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Belgium Netherlands

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 September 2011 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Đavolji dvojnik

Filming Locations:

Grand Hotel Excelsior, Malta

Box Office

Budget:

€15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$96,414 (USA) (29 July 2011)

Gross:

$1,357,042 (USA) (23 September 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Corsan, Corrino Media Corporation, Staccato Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Danny Boyle was considered to direct.

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Goofs

In a lot of car scenes the driver is on the right side, but in Iraq the driver seat is on the left.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Azzam: [to Latif] Hey.

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Connections

Referenced in True Crime Family (2011)

User Reviews

surprisingly good

Saw this movie today at Berlinale and was pleasantly surprised that as I walked out of it thought to myself that it's been a really long time since I saw a decent movie like this. Before I looked Uday/Latif up on the internet I had doubts about how close the plot was to reality, turned out to be quite interesting showing that, well everything in the movie has (kind of) happened. Makes it disturbing to know on a different level.

The depiction of Uday's psychotic character throughout the movie seems very real and does not spare or cheat the viewers any disturbing torture/abuse scenes. Some people might dislike this, some maybe even enjoy it.

That being said I liked the overall acting, both main and lesser characters did a good job. And on a side note: i found the movie sets and props were quite awesome.

btw: I can still remember the news of Uday's and Qusai's deaths back in 2003, but that meant little to me at that time. At least now i know.