Son of Babylon (2009) User Reviews

A Nutshell Review: Son of Babylon

[DICK STEEL · 8/10 · 26 October 2010]

When we think of Iraq, we picture a war torn country which had seen the worst of a dictatorship under Saddam Hussain, where it spent many years in conflict with Iran, before the UN moved in during Desert Storm to liberate occupied Kuwait, followed by the US led invasion in Desert Storm II. Western media continue to pepper us with news that internal strife continues to this very day with news of suicide and miscellaneous bombings, and I'm sure we're more than curious to want to know about tales from within, rather than agencies from the outside that continue to paint it like a war zone. This is as close as you can go on a road trip from Northern Iraq to Baghdad, onward to Nasiriyah then Babylon.

Son of Babylon deals with the missing generation, and a mother/grandson's search for their son/father, who was taken by force years ago during the Gulf War, and hasn't been heard since. Set three weeks after the fall of Saddam Hussain, the film opens with the young boy Ahmed (brilliantly portrayed by a flute holding Yasser Taleeb) and his grandmother Um- Ibrahim (Shehzad Hussein) beginning their long quest for answers and closure, and it is through their eyes and witnessing their experiences, do we get a glimpse of just how emotionally daunting and physically challenging this quest is, amidst a stunning on location backdrop of an Iraq we never get to see, until now.

Written, directed and lensed by Mohamed Al-Daradji, his story touches on the experiences of three generations of Iraqis, as Ahmed and Um-Ibrahim come into contact with Musa (Bashir al-Majid), an ex-Republican Guard about the same age as what their son/father would be if found, and how his life got filled by the war time atrocities that he had to commit under orders. The narrative puts our trio on a never-ending search as they get bounced and referred to another city where other mass graves have been found, suggesting an inexplicable nationwide genocide that had taken place which accounted for the thousands of people who have disappeared.

The story will also open eyes to how diverse Iraq is, with language and cultural barriers from within the population as they struggle to communicate with one another (usually dismissed fairly quickly when one speaks a different language), only to share common ground in their history of grief brought about through the ravages of war. It's not all doom and gloom all the time as the film does contain some light hearted moments courtesy of Ahmed, and his significance cannot be ignored in a film that closes with a bittersweet end to suffering, and the hope placed on today's youth who have to forge their own way ahead on a long, dusty road of uncertainty. Ahmed demonstrates his street-smartness, haggling abilities and knowledge of his rights, that I think he epitomizes the spirit of the new generation who are competent in holding their own ground.

Travelling the world's various festivals, picking up a multitude of awards and being Iraq's official entry to the Academy Awards next year, this is not an easy film to sit through as it does get a little bit exasperating with the outward show of gloom that will sap your emotional energies, but to the patient viewer it rewards with its beautiful sweeping visuals of a land that most have not had a chance to see, and a poignant story on forgiveness, reconciliation and internal healing that must begin for a nation emerging from its ruins. Recommended!

The slightest shimmers of hope will always be around somewhere during the darkest moments in life and pull us through

[LinJason · 8/10 · 26 November 2010]

Diverting away from the usual politically-driven theme, this film of war-torn Iraq seeks fundamental qualities in humanity amidst the very worst situations from the eyes of a grandmother and her grandson in seek of her missing son. The characters have taught us that the slightest shimmers of hope will always be around somewhere during the darkest moments in life and pull us through.

Set in the war-hit landscapes of Iraq, we truly get to see the crumbled physical state that the country is left in three weeks after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Location plays a major role in helping to set the foundation of this film that reeks of desolation without a future (notice how barren the lands look without much greenery). From the mass media, we are often brought to the attention of the battle between the US/UN forces and Saddam's regime where a lot of focus are placed on casualty counts and the war development.

This film sets to tell a heartfelt story that will never be heard of by the world.

Ahmed is a naive young boy who is often optimistic about his life and all that surrounds it, despite being able to see with his own eyes the turmoil of his homeland. Everything is fresh to him, from his missing father's occupation as an Iraqi soldier to greeting the US Marines at check points. During the entire span of this film, Ahmed gets to see the world and attains enlightenment at the end of it.

He is not without fears, especially when he is left alone without his grandmother.

Surprisingly when they face threats that serve to undo them with injustice, he gathers courage to step up against the tyranny and correct what is wrong. He has the nerves to confront a bus driver for a fare refund when the bus was unable to bring them to Baghdad. This highly signifies the potential and capabilities of the young Iraqi generation who can help do the right thing and rebuild the nation. Likewise Ahmed's grandmother also looks to him for support and courage while mutually reciprocating the same, which represents the elder generation looking towards and pinning hopes on the younger ones for protection.

After all, they're only left with each other of what's left in the family (or nation rather).

Ahmed's father represents the current working generation that is affected by the cruelties of tyranny and misfortune that have long plagued Iraq. The mass graves discovered are only going to leave a huge trail of grieving families of the dead. I was personally disturbed by the death wailing of the widows at the mass grave sites.

Initially leaving home to seek the whereabouts of Ahmed's father with hopes of him being alive, the plot developments later degenerated into a heart-wrenching situation where they have no choice but to be contended with seeking his remains to bring home. This proves to be an arduous task that is bleak, but it has not deter them a single bit.

During their journey, they meet interesting characters such as a grumpy old pick-up driver who is cynical about everything and reluctant to take concern in others' matters. He condemns Saddam's regime (interestingly by calling him up during his call of nature) and has stopped placing faith in religion after all that has happened. His opening chapter brought quite a bit of humour through his crude sarcasm, I would say.

Ahmed and his grandmother later inspired his love and care to surface.

Another fine gentleman who was coerced into killing innocents during the Anfal (mass massacre of the Kurds) greets Ahmed and his grandmother with kind intentions. It wasn't easy for Ahmed's grandmother to put the Anfal behind and see him as a repented man.

Son of Babylon speaks a lot about embracing forgiveness and moving on towards a better life and future despite current dark moments with a focus on qualities of humanity over hatred and blame. Largely in credit to Director Mohamed Al Daradji, he has done us a great favour as we gain new insights and valuable lessons in life.

A humanistic story about the human cost of war.

[Eternality · 8/10 · 12 November 2010]

Winning a couple of awards at the 2010 Berlin Film Festival, this Iraqi film is a heartbreaking look at the consequence of war on the people whose sons were forced to fight in. Told through the sad eyes of a grandmother and her grandson, Ahmed, the film easily tugs at the heartstrings of viewers, who would be fairly impacted by its emotional power as felt through the strong performances of the two leads.

In the quest to find his missing father, the resourceful Ahmed and his resolute grandmother trek by foot, and hitch the occasional ride by truck across the hot, arid desert environment of Iraq, moving from one location to another to enquire about the whereabouts of the father. Twelve years were what separated the family when the father was forced to become a soldier to fight for Saddam during the war Iraq was involved in during the early 90s.

Shot in the actual Iraqi landscape during the early 2000s when the U.S. was occupying the country, Son of Babylon is like a time capsule of images of a nation devastated by an unjust war. Even though shot as if the camera is trailing these two characters as they witness and experience the effects of war, Daradji's film is not a documentary (even though it looks like one, barring a narrator) but a visual document of the humanitarian issues facing not only Iraq today, but also other nations whose civilians have been or are affected by war.

One scene in the film brings a powerful jolt to our senses: Ahmed finds himself alone in a mass grave that has been dug. He squats and sees a human skull protruding out from the soil. He moves his palm close and rests it on the skull. A layer of sand becomes stuck to his palm, and he brings it to his cheek. Is his curiously subtle action a sign of acceptance that his father is long gone and it is pointless to search anymore? A scene later shows his grandmother crying uncontrollably, and we see Ahmed trying to console her.

This "emotional maturation" of Ahmed is one of the key (albeit implicit) themes of Son of Babylon. It is significant because his character's feelings toward his father changes dramatically – from one of anger (for not being there to support him), to sadness (of his missing father), to acceptance (of his father's death). The realization of truth as harshly unchangeable is what binds people with a common loss as exemplified in the short scene between the grandmother (who speaks Kurdish) and an Arab-speaking widow, the latter being able to feel for the former's loss even though they do not understand each other.

Son of Babylon is more than a road movie about the bonding between grandmother and grandson as they search for a missing loved one. It is a humanistic story about the human cost of war. There seems to be no end to violence and destruction, no time for closure, no time to mourn the dead before another war starts.

SCORE: 8/10 (www.filmnomenon.blogspot.com) All rights reserved!

The prefect antidote to Hollywood's view of Iraq

[rogerdarlington · 27 November 2011]

This is the first Iraqi film that I have seen and what a stunningly emotional introduction to the cinema of a country that is presented so differently in Hollywood movies. "Green Zone", "The Hurt Locker", "In The Valley Of Elah", "The Kingdom" ... these are all essentially an American view, the victor's perspective. Here 31 year old writer and director Mohammed Daradh - who studied film making in London - has crafted a totally contrasting work. It looks different: it was actually shot in Iraq and not in Jordan or Spain. It sounds different, deploying a mixture of Kurdish and Arabic. And the subject matter is different: the victims of Saddam Hussein and especially the suffering of the Kurds in the north of the country.

The two central performances - an old woman (Shazada Hussein) and a young boy (Yasser Talib), respectively the hopeful mother and the bewildered son of a missing Kurd forced to be a soldier in Saddam's army - are so powerful and poignant and their journey highlights the true victims of the dictatorship, all those who went missing and whose bodies may never be identified. The final location of Babylon reminds us that one time this was one of the richest and most civilised locations on earth.

When a mother's despair and a son's innocence meets in the post-Saddam era

[samuelding85 · 7/10 · 19 November 2010]

Son of Babylon marks the first few movie to be made in Iraq by an Iraqi, after the fall of Saddam Hussien's Regine. Director Mohamed Al Daradji, a former soldier under Saddam's Regine, tells the story on the despair of the loss of the loved ones during the Iraq war in the early 1900's, where family members of the victims could only see the remains of the loved ones buried under the bed of sand where they hoped for their loved ones to remain alive.

The story begins with a Kurdish grandmother, Um-Ibrahim, and her only grandson, Ahmed, on a journey towards Baghdad to look for her son, Ibrahim (grandson's father), who was forced into the army in 1991 during the outbreak of Iraq war. With a weak body and unable to speak Arabic, Um-Ibrahim wants the willful Ahmed to guide her along the streets of Baghdad, looking into possible places that she can find her son. Throughout the journey, the duo met a driver who drives them to Baghdad from the desert and a former soldier forced into performing a massacre during Saddam's Regine, who helps the duo in locating various mass graves to look for Ibrahim.

The story for the road movie is fairly simply, but this may not be an easy movie to understand, especially for audience who have no knowledge on the Iraq war and the massacre during Saddam's Regine. The willful Ahmed looks naive and innocent, without knowing what has happened around him until he has to accompany his grandmother in searching for his father. On the other hand, Um-Ibrahim seems more of a villager who is ignorant on the environment outsider her world. Unable to communicate with the people around her in Arabic, it becomes a barrier towards looking for her son. But she will locate her son no matter how difficult it will be. When both has to work hand in hand together, it breeds frustration: Ahmed is tired of his grandmother reading official letters locating the whereabouts of his father; Um-Ibrahim has to stop her grandson from running away from her without her knowledge.

When arriving on one of the destination, Um-Ibrahim helps Ahmed change a set of clothes, so that he will not look dirty should they found Ibrahim. At the same time, Ahmed helps Um-Ibrahim washes her face after traveling on a long journey. Such acts sends a message on the desperation and hope of thousands of Iraqi's looking towards finding their family members. As the story unfolds, we will see on how many of the Iraqi's burst into disappointment as their hope dashes after being taken to various mass graves, where victims who died under Saddam's Regine were buried in the wild.

The message Daradji wants to send to the audience across the world is the destruction of the lives and hopes of civilians when war broke out somewhere else, be it an foreign invasion or a civil war. At the same time, it also gives a view on the society in chaos after the war, on how people begin to pick up the pieces from the destruction without any order. Son of Babylon is a story told from the view of the Iraqi's who survived the war, where all the people wished for is for the family and the society to live together harmoniously, not out into a war for the benefit of an individual.

While we have plenty of movies featuring American troops controlling and restoring the order of Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussien, we do not have any movie that truly reflects the thought from the view of the Iraqi's. Son of Babylon is the first, and may be the only few movies in the world that could have done so. In short, Son of Babylon marks the first few important movie on the destruction of war in the cinema history.

A must watch film which should go down cinema history as one of the best productions ever made

[moviexclusive · 9/10 · 3 November 2010]

There are major events in world history which the world would rather forget. These incidents revive painful memories which cause psychological hurt and heartache. But these events also serve as important lessons in the worldly scheme of things. One such history lesson is the reign of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. While we may not be the most knowledgeable people to tell you the exact terrors which happened during the infamous Gulf War, we are urging you to watch this emotionally engaging piece of work from Iraq, simply because you, our readers, are fellow human beings like us.

And we believe that human beings have the ability to feel human emotions, hence our existence. One avenue to experience real human emotions are well made films like this.

The story is heartbreakingly simple: We follow a headstrong young boy and his persistent grandmother on their journey across Northern Iraq as they search for the boy's father, a solider who has gone missing since the Gulf War. This happens after the fall of Saddam Hussein, when people are trying to pick up fallen pieces and return to normality. Here we have two hopeful souls, a boy in search of his father and a mother in search of her son – how will their road trip end? Director Mohamed Al-Daradji handles a politically throbbing topic in this award winning film which deserves an important place in the history of international cinema. The young filmmaker approaches this piece of history with extreme sensitivity, compassion and mostly importantly, empathy, as he tells this realistic tale through the camera lens. While it would have been convenient to exploit and milk emotional sympathy (read: Hollywood), the filmmakers took care not to demean the power of cinema by thoughtfully illustrating what the reality is like for the people who suffered the aftermath of Saddam Hussein's time in power.

The film's two protagonists are played by Yasser Talib and Shazda Hussein, who deliver calmingly powerful performances that will touch the most contemptuous viewer. Talib's idealistic adamancy comes from his boyish vivacious personality, while Hussein's buoyant stubbornness is coupled with an exasperating grief which aptly complements her co-actor's performance. Your attention will be with the grandmother grandson duo throughout the film's 90 minute runtime, as they uncover the reality which ultimately spells tragedy. A supporting character in the form of a former Republican Guard (played energetically by Bashir Al-Majid) completes this capable ensemble.

Richly filled with important political messages of peace and strong representations of symbolic imageries, it is evident that this production is one made with care and deliberation. It is no wonder the film has received critical acclaim at international film festivals, with the 60th Berlinale International Film Festival awarding it with the Amnesty International Film Prize and Peace Film Award, and the Edinburgh International Film Festival giving it a special mention earlier this year. As Iraq's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film, we are keeping our fingers crossed that the Academy will give this film's its deserved accolade at next year's Oscars.

This film is the perfect example of how human emotions are universal, regardless of language. In a gently heartrending scene in this production with Arabic and Kurdish language, a woman tells another: "I do not understand your language, but I feel your sorrow and pain." This is human connection at its best.

Also, without giving away too much here, watch out for the devastating finale, which we are declaring as one of cinema's greatest moments.

A human tale of hope of closure, this humane film is about how people arise from the ashes and pick up where circumstances left them off – a must watch for 2010, definitely.

• www.moviexclusive.com

Sad truth of war for common people

[theatirekjain · 7/10 · 19 September 2023]

This is a movie that shows to reality of people living in Iraq. After wars, American invasions. The rich history and lives of common people are destroyed.

If you are interested in an antiwar movie, it's quite good and sad. It's a story about a mother and sons search for there father, during the war. We also get to see both the helpful and greedy parts of the world. The contrast between the sorrow felt by the old mother and the young boy searching for his father is clearly visible.

If you have 1 and a half hour and want a relaxed and sad story based in the real world it's definitely for you..

A road trip through Iraq

[emm7 · 9/10 · 7 October 2010]

Directed and written by Mohamed Al Daradji, Son of Babylon is a gritty realistic drama about a young boy Ahmed and his grandmothers journey across Iraq to try and find the boys father. Set in 2003 after the fall of Saddam, Ahmed's father was forced to join the Iraqi army in 1991 and hasn't returned for 12 years, fearing he's in prison or dead the two remaining family members travel 600 miles to try and find out what's happened to him.

The dusty landscape and abandoned ruins of Iraq are a perfect backdrop for this harrowing story, they travel from the mountains to the sands of Babylon hitchhiking rides from kind strangers along the way. The cinematography and scenery in the film are spectacular, they capture the beauty in war torn Iraq when they stumble across Prophet Ibrahims house and mosques along the way. It's easy to believe how isolated the people of Iraq feel as the only thing that has always stayed intact are the roads, it's now a barren land.

Yasser Talib who plays the young boy Ahmed is just brilliant at portraying an abandoned boy who's never known his father. He's comical at times but deals with the films serious nature very well. Shazada Hussein is the Grandmother in the film, she's very believable as a distressed mother in search of her son, her task of looking after her grandson in certain very dangerous parts of Iraq in a tough one. Shazada was actually the only woman to have testified in Saddam Husseins trial so this film must be very personal for her. Together the two characters form a great bond, they annoy each other easily but deep down there is much love and respect for one another.

Throughout the film the two characters keep travelling on buses that break down and are only met with disappointment when they arrive at the town they believe Ahmeds father to be in, but along the way they meet some good people who help and look after them. The Iraq we see in the film is a very different place to the one the media portray. There is even more death and destruction than is reported and the film shows Iraq from it's peoples point of view, not from an outsider looking in, in fact there are barely any troops featured in the film, only a few they have to pass on the road. The only music in the film is when Ahmed plays his flute and the singing of people they meet on their journey, I think this gives the film a more authentic and real feel, it's not glossed by a melancholy soundtrack to how the characters are feeling at any particular point in time.

The slow-paced film overall looks amazing, the acting is brilliant and the plot is strong, you really hope these characters find what they're looking for.

I saw a preview press screening of Son of Babylon as part of Raindance Film Festival.

Iraqi

[gaktiger · 7/10 · 7 May 2019]

The story of the movie is super sad and the old woman got the character as good as it should be...

By: Ahmed Ammar "JoJo" Hussein Facebook: Ahmed Ammar Ps: I put on my Facebook page a photo of Brad Pitt.

A sobering account of genocide and occupation in Iraq

[Atavisten · 9/10 · 18 October 2010]

The plight of Iraq, and especially the Kurds in Iraq, double struck by the worst imaginable disasters during the past 20 years, first the war with Iran where men where drafted into suicide and the genocide of the Kurds by Saddam and then now in the present carnage of the US occupation, serves as the premise and backdrop of this powerful movie.

Ahmed tries together with his grandmother to find his father, a soldier missing for 12 years. Saddam has just fallen and his mass graves are uncovered all over the north area. This is of course very difficult. They hitchhike their way through the country with what means possible, including a body transport.

The fact is that more than 1 000 000 people have gone missing in Iraq during the past 30 years or so and this is not internationally recognized in some (including Arabic) countries as what it is. This movie highlights this.

An important movie.

People helping each other

[shi612 · 8/10 · 7 May 2013]

The first impression was pretty much hopeless. I wondered why they made a movie with such a desperate plot.

But recalling each scene in the movie, everyone in the movie was so kind. The movie starts with a scene that an old woman and her grandson walk middle of nowhere in the desert of Iraq. They are Kurdish. They were severely persecuted under Saddam Hussein ruling. Three weeks after the Hussein regime fell, they started the travel from Kurdistan, northern Iraq, to Nasiriya, southern Iraq, where the woman believes her son is confined in the jail. The distance between Kurdistan and Nasiriya is about 700 km according to the Google map. The first truck driver ignored the boy's exclamation to stop, but he was an exception. All other people who encounter the old woman and the boy are very kind, despite many of them can not understand her Kurdish.

Through the TV and newspapers, our image of Iraq is chaos and hate. Deadly suicide bombings are daily events. Government is still in turmoil. And the conflicts between Arabians and Kurdish, or Sunni and Shi'ah do not end. In this movie, however, people sympathize, help and forgive each other. What does the title "Son of Babylon" mean? Babylon is the name when the country was in the highest glory. The dream of the woman and her grandson to see the hanging garden of Babylon did not come true. But this movie may be telling us to see the hanging garden covered by green leaves, beyond the desperate reality, by helping each other.

An important documentary fiction

[himanshug1 · 8/10 · 25 August 2012]

I saw this film on DVD at home, but when I saw the this film at the Cinema on a big screen, the impact was far more greater. The soundtrack of the film made it much more gritter in the cinema.

In this film we are taken across the Iraq, when young boy Ahmed with his grand mother is going to search his father who has left home 12 years ago, to join the Iraqi army. Their search starts just after fall of Saddam Hussein. We see distraction of Iraq, brought to us by the Director Mohamed Al Daradji, who has written story and script with Jennifer Norridge. Grand Mother speaks Kurdish, which is not understood by many in Iraq, and often Arabic conversations by Iraqi are not understood by Grand mother. These struggle is sharply portrayed.

We go through struggles and disappointments with Ahmed and His grandmother. When we arrive to final scenes, I found myself, not affected by the piece of major history portrayed by Daradji. If I force myself to sympathise with Ahmed, I can appreciate his pain, but I had to put myself in him, rather he pulling me in him.

More I thought about this point, I think Doradji present the Mass graves, Wailing Iraqi women as dead images, and also not created any meaningful images to audience, about Ahmed's father as a real person. This whole part appears as a documentary presentation.

Never the less it is a good film. It should be widely seen.

Beautiful Tragedy

[Pau-palero97 · 9/10 · 2 May 2017]

When one thinks of Iraq it is probable that you have an image of it. Lots of guns and lots of militia all around the cities. This movie shows the other side of it. The side after the images we normally think of. To be able to understand everything in this movie, knowledge about Iraq is required. In 2003 after the fall of Saddam Hussain, the country of Iraq was in a bad place. One of the worst things that were discovered after Saddam's fall were, mass graves, where not all the bodies in them could be identified. Those families who had sons or husbands in the military were forced to look for their relatives in this mass graves and most of the times they were not found. This is the setting for the movie Son of Babylon.

Ahmed has never meet his father who was drafted to join the military 12 years ago when Ahmed was born. Ahmed and his grandma, Um Ibrahim, decided to go look for Ahmed's father after she gets a letter from a friend of her son. They go out looking for him with nothing, they are not even sure if they will find him, they hope they will. Their journey is a long and tiresome one. They encounter some people along their way that might be able to help Ahmed at the end of the movie, or at least we hope they will. Their journey begins and ends with tragedy and sadness. Ahmed is forced to become independent and is left with nothing at the end, not even hope. The last scene of the movie is heartbreaking as we see Ahmed play the flute of his father while crying.

This movie really shows the effect war has on people. They suffer some more than other and they lose sometimes everything they have. Son of Babylon could be called a roadrtrip movie because we follow our characters on a trip that will change their lives forever but this movie is so much more. It opens a window to a world many of don't even imagine. A beautiful, tearful movie that will make you think about the consequences of war and the importance of family.

GREAT Movie

[aboodk-20930 · 8/10 · 21 November 2020]

Great movie about iraq I recommend everyone to watch

America & Saddam

[rahulmh-07337 · 10/10 · 21 June 2022]

Oh ho America.

Oh ho Saddam.

Do you not hear the cries of Muslims?

Oh ho America.

Oh ho Saddam.

Do you not hear the cries of Muslims?

Oh ho America.

Oh ho Saddam.

Do you not hear the cries of Muslims?