Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Ryan Miller This movie is very interesting. I do feel that most dictators are very "quirky" and even the American President does have "bunkers of sorts" I do think it is interesting to learn about him and the cultures. The cleaning issues are a very personal thing. Look at Howard Hughes or Sienfeild for that matter. Over all a good watch, but just like Bowling for columbine, And Farenheit 911 you have to take these as mostly opinion biased. The movie unfortunately has that obnoxious feel of a college film because of the stock footage and very aged. This gives it a very good feel, but does not mix with the things he shot on DV very well. All in all i'd have to give it an 8, it's good, i like it, i'd like to own it, but I won't be swallowing this information whole.

Steve I cannot recommend this documentary enough. Anyone who has doubts about Operation Iraqi Freedom should try and view this film if only to see Saddam Hussein in his element. You begin to understand the meglomania and psychosis of this ruthless tyrant.Particularly eye-opening are the opulent lifestyle and architectural and artistic excesses of this man who built billions of dollars worth of palaces for himself and his close followers and let his people suffer and die. His systematic placement and subsequent elimination of family members in places of power is a symptom of his paranoid delusion and cheek of his murderous schemes would astonish medieval king. It becomes clear that the Baathist/marxist policies of Saddam do nothing to elevate the lives of the average Iraqi and merely spread the misery equally among anyone outside Saddam's circle of influence in Iraq. Particularly weird are Saddam's discourse on body odor and bathing.

werhymes This documentary is a very compelling and surreal glimpse at the narcissistic and eccentric (former) dictator of Iraq. The movie has a narrow scope. If you watch with an expectation that you will come away with a better understanding of the Iraqi people and their plight, you will be somewhat disappointed. It simply tries to convey the unbridled ego, callous brutality, and campy, over-the-top style around which this sadistic tyrants world revolves.It shows, in part, what can happen when you couple paranoia and absence of personal and financial limits. My mouth was left hanging open through most of the film. I am not going to give any spoilers but the `art' museum and its curator is unbelievable. And describing his family as dysfunctional is the epitome of understatement. It is like crossing the Manson family, Deliverance, and Julius Caesar and adding a healthy dose of crystal meth.It is amazing that the director got the footage he did considering the lengths he went to get what he got. I wish there were more but in some regard I am not certain I could have taken more in one sitting.This is a must see. Evidence that this kind of evil must not be allowed to exist. It would be funny if it were not so horribly true.

Borboletta The subject matter avoids Saddam's rise to power, which was covered quite well by Frontline. The focus instead is on Saddam "the man", his family, his wealth, and his megalomania in general. The images of Saddam's palaces, museums and other shrines juxtapose chillingly with those of children in hospitals and Saddam's torture victims. We also see how Saddam has turned his presidency into a virtual monarchy, (rather than a Hitler-style dictatorship) complete with royal family intrigue as family members come into and lose -- sometimes painfully -- power and influence within the regime. The tongue in cheek narration gives this documentary a strange feel, more sarcastic than ironic, which I am not sure was the best way to present this material. Saddam will no doubt receive his wish and be remembered throughout history (alongside similar monsters like Nero, Pol Pot, Stalin, Catherine di Medici and others).