Being Iraqi I can judge the film from different perspective. The film couldn't explain way Uddy was like that. It wasn't the directors intention and the time wasn't enough. I will try to explain that briefly.
Saddam and his family were poor peasants from small village with tribal roots. Revenge and love for power and considering sympathy and emotions as weakness controlled all of them. Saddam and his tribe knew that his raise to power was a miracle that they should protect by any means. Uday from the other hand grow in this atmosphere and adopted this way of thinking but with no restrictions. That why he was more dangerous than Saddam because he didn't earn the power.
They say Saddam took Uday and his brother Qussi on Udyes birthday to a cell where half dead prisoner laid on the floor. He gave them guns and asked them to shoot that guy. The story says that Qussi shot one bullet towards the prisoner. Uday on the other hand kept shooting until the clip was empty and he was only a teenager.
If that story was true you can understand how Uday was taught to become the monster we see in the film.
All these sides the film failed to touch except with the way Uday looked at his father in one of the scenes. This look dose shows a mixture of admiration, fear and hatred towards Saddam.
He was the source of power and Udy probably adored him. But Saddam was worried from Udays behavior even though he might utilities it to set fear in his followers.
Saddam was Uddy s copy when he was younger but he always kept nice facade. Otherwise he couldn't v managed to deceive all his friends whom he killed to get to the power. Udday didn't need to do that and threatened even family members which made Saddam nearly kill him twice. The guy shot his own uncle in the foot which in tribal customs was unthinkable. He used to bring singers in his parties and shoot at them for fun. He had cells filled with naked female prisoners and en army of his own.
Udy was without a doubt the most feared man in Iraq in his time. He didn't hesitate to do anything. The whole picture of Udy that the film managed to show is the tender and funny side of Udy the clown, the truth was more uglier than that. He managed to make an economic empire bye trading in goods under the embargo in the 90s. He smuggled oil food and medicine and build a fortune while Iraqis were dying.
There were many thing wrong in this movie. It's not documentary so I understand that it doesn't have all the details. But there are things that were simply unbelievable.
We have Lativ on one action spiting on Uday and another hitting him. Doing that for a guy with narcissistic Personality and tribal background combined with utter power that would be utterly impossible without being killed instantly. The way he shoot Udy first time and than escape easily without one car following him and then escaping the country in a police state were children spy on their parents.
Then coming back and shooting Uday again its Dye Hard Four all again.
Uday did live from assassination attempt naturally not on Lativ hands. He was hit with many bullets in a street three blocks from my home. It was a busy shopping street all shop keepers in that street were arrested even those how were at home. After many operations they kept his life and great celebrations were held in the same area of the attempt.
People how claimed attacking him were shown by newspapers after 2003 they claimed that their families were killed and they fled to Iran. When he was killed by Americans many years later some of his people thought that he was a mortar and all his sins are gone. But he wasn't popular even among his family and that why no one hide him and the one how did. tipped the Americans about his whereabouts for money.
I think Udy need a more historically minded films to show the new generations the nature of his crimes and to remember his many victims Otherwise we will have him as hero after his crimes would be long forgotten. at least to better understand the nature of such a humans.
Saddam and his family were poor peasants from small village with tribal roots. Revenge and love for power and considering sympathy and emotions as weakness controlled all of them. Saddam and his tribe knew that his raise to power was a miracle that they should protect by any means. Uday from the other hand grow in this atmosphere and adopted this way of thinking but with no restrictions. That why he was more dangerous than Saddam because he didn't earn the power.
They say Saddam took Uday and his brother Qussi on Udyes birthday to a cell where half dead prisoner laid on the floor. He gave them guns and asked them to shoot that guy. The story says that Qussi shot one bullet towards the prisoner. Uday on the other hand kept shooting until the clip was empty and he was only a teenager.
If that story was true you can understand how Uday was taught to become the monster we see in the film.
All these sides the film failed to touch except with the way Uday looked at his father in one of the scenes. This look dose shows a mixture of admiration, fear and hatred towards Saddam.
He was the source of power and Udy probably adored him. But Saddam was worried from Udays behavior even though he might utilities it to set fear in his followers.
Saddam was Uddy s copy when he was younger but he always kept nice facade. Otherwise he couldn't v managed to deceive all his friends whom he killed to get to the power. Udday didn't need to do that and threatened even family members which made Saddam nearly kill him twice. The guy shot his own uncle in the foot which in tribal customs was unthinkable. He used to bring singers in his parties and shoot at them for fun. He had cells filled with naked female prisoners and en army of his own.
Udy was without a doubt the most feared man in Iraq in his time. He didn't hesitate to do anything. The whole picture of Udy that the film managed to show is the tender and funny side of Udy the clown, the truth was more uglier than that. He managed to make an economic empire bye trading in goods under the embargo in the 90s. He smuggled oil food and medicine and build a fortune while Iraqis were dying.
There were many thing wrong in this movie. It's not documentary so I understand that it doesn't have all the details. But there are things that were simply unbelievable.
We have Lativ on one action spiting on Uday and another hitting him. Doing that for a guy with narcissistic Personality and tribal background combined with utter power that would be utterly impossible without being killed instantly. The way he shoot Udy first time and than escape easily without one car following him and then escaping the country in a police state were children spy on their parents.
Then coming back and shooting Uday again its Dye Hard Four all again.
Uday did live from assassination attempt naturally not on Lativ hands. He was hit with many bullets in a street three blocks from my home. It was a busy shopping street all shop keepers in that street were arrested even those how were at home. After many operations they kept his life and great celebrations were held in the same area of the attempt.
People how claimed attacking him were shown by newspapers after 2003 they claimed that their families were killed and they fled to Iran. When he was killed by Americans many years later some of his people thought that he was a mortar and all his sins are gone. But he wasn't popular even among his family and that why no one hide him and the one how did. tipped the Americans about his whereabouts for money.
I think Udy need a more historically minded films to show the new generations the nature of his crimes and to remember his many victims Otherwise we will have him as hero after his crimes would be long forgotten. at least to better understand the nature of such a humans.