Warning: This award-winning year 2003 video release, "Uncle Saddam," is stamped on the front cover "this is 100% All-American Grade A Anti-Saddam Entertainment."

With narration by Wallace Langham of HBO's "Larry Sanders" TV series and narration written by Scott Thompson of "The Kids In The Hall" comedy group, "Uncle Saddam," an English-language, 63-minute VHS videotape details Saddam Hussein circa the year 2000 in a biography that details the man's life while showing unintentional humor (at least, humor not intended by the biography's subject when he agreed to cooperate with the filmmakers).

It has a feel of a "Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous" gone mad as filmmaker Joel Soler offers a close-up look at a madman. Convinced that the filmmakers would present him in a positive light, Hussein was amazingly open with the film crew at first; later, Soler reportedly sought U. S. government protection from the Clinton Administration when Hussein decided the footage showed him in a less than glowing light.

Fishing:

The unexpected humor which, thankfully, breaks up the biography's accounts of Hussein's murderous activities as the dictator of Iraq, includes tidbits about Saddam's favorite activities.

Hussein apparently loved to fish, but preferred quicker-than-usual fishing methods: we see Saddam, in swim trunks, a bizarre civilian hat and shirtless on the shore throwing grenades into a river, his preferred method of fishing. After throwing a few grenades, fish float to the surface and Hussein sends people into the water (have all the grenades exploded or not?) to get the fish.

We also learn that Saddam preferred to be greeted by people who would kiss him under each armpit when brought before him.

Brushing teeth is important for a world-class dictator, Saddam tells his interviewers. Saddam demonstrates that if you don't have a toothbrush, use your finger "like this" as he rubs his finger back-and-forth in his open mouth.

Body odor is a terrible thing, and Saddam explains why. His days, as a world leader, began at 5 am --- "one should bathe twice, but one must bathe at least once a day," if you're a man. Women, we are told, smell terrible and must bathe at least twice a day.

Farting, or "gaseous emissions," must be avoided. Saddam has no use for anyone who can't control such things.

The bio:

In a fact-filled look at Saddam's life, we find that his mother considered an abortion (at least that's the legend), that Saddam killed his first man while still in his teens and that anyone who dared to be critical of him would be put to death (along with their families and including many of Saddam's own relatives).

There's video of Saddam's atrocities, from using chemical weapons to control insurgencies among Iraq's Shiite and Kurdish populations, to brutal invasions of Iran (the 1980-88 war left 1 million people dead and saw human wave assaults by Iranian troops stopped cold by Iraqi chemical weapons) and the 1990 invasion of tiny Kuwait that led to the first Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) in 1991.

There's interesting footage of Saddam's many huge palaces. Stunningly, we are shown one palace that Saddam built underground (complete with an underground airport (mentioned but not shown), we are told, to allow a quick escape by the Iraqi leader).

Hussein is shown encouraging his people to make sacrifices of their personal gold to help the war effort with Iran. The people respond for Iraq and surrender their gold to the government, but a few months later Saddam is shown arriving at one of his palaces in a solid gold carriage (while Iraqi hospitals are shown with children dying from lack of medicine, but at least Saddam got his gold carriage, right?).

Saddam's sons, wives, mistresses and daughters have their stories told as well. Saddam was a strange family man, threatening a son with death and executing the husbands of his daughters for treason after promising not to harm them.

You get a portrait of a man who loved flowers, but who ordered the murders of men, women and children without a second thought (often having such things filmed for his own entertainment).

The film:

The 63-minute color VHS video won the "Best Documentary Award" from both the New Orleans Film Festival and the Northampton Film Festival. Variety magazine found that the film had "much to fascinate and amuse," while The Hollywood Reporter called it "a laugh-along surrealistic portrait."

The New York Times may have called it best, saying that the film "paints Saddam as a genocidal Jerry Seinfeld."

Recommendation:

I found the film very funny at times, though laughing at a murderous lunatic certainly isn't very politically correct I'm sure. As a bio, the film is serious and informative, featuring a timeline of Saddam's life and rise to power.

The most recent footage was shot in 2000 and much of the footage is much older. The film was made before the current Iraq War.

I suspect the film could provide some comic relief for stressed troops on the front lines in Iraq. However, the film is for special tastes and though not rated, I would give it a PG rating.



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older