Comical Ali [2003] [DVD]

 

 

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During the conflict I very much enjoyed the Iraqi Information Ministers amazing claims. He brought humour to the war for many westerners so detached from the real truth. I was pleased when I learned of this product and purchased it, on viewing however I was very disappointed and somewhat saddened.

First thing this DVD is not region 2 encoded, it is in fact 0 and in the NTSC format leading to my stand alone DVD player not accepting it and spitting the message "NOT PAL" on screen, no problem though, I knew my computer would accept it. The next disappointment was the quality of the special feature, I understand this was not a big budget release but at the very least they should have included a written documentation of the mans work history but no, instead we got a video montage of poor quality desert scenes with traditional Arabic music, I certainly was not expecting that! "Hey I know, lets just edit this stock VHS desert footage together bang on some groovy Arabic tunes, yeah, that’s perfect. Boys, we’ve got our special feature".

Finally the documentary itself. The voice over is the typical cheesy American fare featured in such shows as "Cops" and "The World's Wildest (insert dramatic situation here)", the editing is adequate although more stock desert footage has been thrown in every so often with a nice tacky font added to the mix. The "expert" guests commenting on the situation in question are completely unknown to me and I am sure everyone else (apart from their close friends and immediate family), a couple of them occasionally said interesting things, however, on the whole they said nothing which added to the documentary and personally I disliked them all. The quotes from leaders Bush and Blair were highly selective, highly patriotic and highly stomach churning, by the time they raised their ugly head though I was expecting no different. Now though, the reason I bought the DVD, the man himself and his classic quotes, what once seemed very amusing now seems rather sad. Did I laugh at him through sheer ignorance of the situation, or was I just blocking the horror out by finding comedy in this desperate man? Either way it is pretty depressing.

To sum up, this is no longer funny and it certainly is not a quality documentation of Mohammed Saeed Al-Sahaf and his conduct. On the plus side though, money from it goes to charity so every sale does has at least some value.

Thanks

I purchased this disc because I found the Iraqi Information Minister highly entertaining and a record (for such a good price) was irresistable, plus there's a charitable donation. I didn't expect much in the way of quality to the production but I was wrong. This is a very good documentary about the life of the man and the context of the second US attack on Iraq. The commentary is subtle and interesting and the video transfer is first rate. As well as the clips of 'Ali' there are other famous images such as the attacks on Baghdad, the toppling of Sadham's statue, the US troops at the airport etc etc. This documentary could be shown on prime time UK TV and put most shows to shame.
Also: there are 'extras' including the best utterances of the great man without music backing them as it does in the documentary and a surreal but pleasant desert video montage with appropriate Arabic music.

The best thing of all though is the main menu screen which has a very simple but (in my case at least) laugh out loud joke. You'll have to buy the disc to find out!

It's fair to say the only slight ray of sunshine in an otherwise very serious period of war and tragedy this year was the eternally (and quite worryingly) optimistic Iraqi Information Minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf. His endless stream of threats (my feelings, as usual, we will slaughter them all'), denials ('they are not even 100 miles from Baghdad, they are not in any place, this is an illusion') and insults ('they are a superpower of Al Capone') was just begging to be portrayed and kept for posterity somehow...but just butting all those quotes together, no matter how funny and eccentric they are, would get boring pretty quickly.
So thank goodness I bought this, hoping it would have a bit of a story behind it, and it did; in fact, it's a very slickly put-together documentary that has just the right blend of Big Mo and other archive footage, taken naturally from the war just passed but also his earlier guise as Foreign Minister...these clips are even more hysterical because he is so deadpan, resplendent in his suit back then, but still delivering his now infamous rants about 'those villains'. And what's more we get plenty of interesting interviews and opinions from journalists, authors etc., some of whom really do feel sorry for him. The balance in the views on offer from 'he shuld be in jail' to 'he was trapped, he had a gun to his head' works very well and lets us make up our own minds.
But special mention has to go to the sections on Saddam Hussein (his musical tribute from Iraqi TV is priceless) and his attacks on Bush and Blair: 'this stooge...I think the British nation has never been faced with a tragedy like this fellow!' You can't help siding with him a little/a lot when you watch it!! And his final performance on the roof of the Palestine Hotel is shown in all its glory complete with some behind the scenes panic as he first appears to everyone's shock/delight. When he says 'don't be frightened, we are going to tackle them and destroy them' to a nodding but obviously bemused journalist, Sahaf looks like he almost can't contain himself and he is undoubtedly lapping up all the world's press hanging on his every word. I'm glad they saved all this classic footage of him til the end, with one or two little teasers on the way...it's an apt finale to Sideshow/Baghdad Bob's performance. Encore!
To sum up, don't believe the hype, this isn't at all tasteless or crude, it's a very absorbing account of how the media built up the legend of Comical Ali and then had to face up to what it had created. Everything right down to the atmospheric music and desert backdrops for the titles shows that the BBC (tongue in cheek) have really worked to make a polished, complete video. Luckily we now know the man is relatively safe and well so we don't need to feel guilty about finding humour in the situation....as one pundit suggests, maybe he was just having a laugh with the media because what else could he do?! Whatever, we're very glad you did it, Mohammed, and we look forward to seeing you on Letterman some time soon...hey, nothing this guy does should ever surprise you!!

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2.0 out of 5 stars not so comical anymore
it is funny to see that in spite of his a bit early enthusiasm he was more right than what his ironic followers could imagine in their worst nightmares. Read more

Published on 4 Jun 2004

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