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Reviews
House of Saddam (2008)
Quality Stuff
As far as a TV mini-series goes, it doesn't get much better than this. The co-production that boasts the heavyweight partnership between HBO and BBC is evident in the quality of the sets, the cinematography, the casting (for the most part), script writing, editing, and acting.
Each episode created heart-racing drama, often so thick it could be cut with a knife.
My once qualm: as an Arabic speaker, I could hear right through some accents that were clearly not Arab. The worst offenders being Shohreh Aghdashloo's thick Iranian accent handling the part of Saddam's wife Sajida -- an earsore if there ever was one. Another was Agni Scott (ne' Tsangaridou) who's evident Greek accent again distracted from her performance as Raghad Hussein.
However, the roles of Uday, Tariq Aziz, Ali Hassan al-Majid, Hussein Kamel, and especially Saddam (played by Yigal Naor) were as convincing as one could ask for.
Overall highly entertaining, and informative for those less familiar with the Baath regime, as the plot line curbed closely to the facts. Well worth watching.