Backstabbing For Beginners

I remember about 5 years ago, i was in Gothenburgh on a Travel Convention to check out all kinds of travelling ideas. There were a lot of good advices, about what countries you should experience for different reasons. And after having dinner, i noticed one Travel agency that was talking about why you should travel on vacation to Iraq. My first reaction was:- Iraq vacation ? So i talked to a guy standing there, who showed me pictures from Iraq, as he tried to explain that Iraq have so much to offer, for a perfect holiday. He gave me some information to take home, just in case i would be interested in trying to have a holiday there. Now, i would personally not go there. One of the reasons is that i have never felt the need to go on vacation in Iraq, so i would rather go back to Thailand instead. Speaking of Iraq, i think a lot of people would think about former dictator Saddam Hussein, who controlled Iraq for many years. He was executed on 30th December of 2006. Saddam caused a lot of damage for the people of Iraq, and he was clearly insane. Movies have of course told different stories about Iraq, and how evil Saddam Hussein was. There are a couple of titles that comes to my mind, but one of the films i have to mention is the 2011 film called The Devil´s Double. A Belgian-Dutch movie, where we get a story about how Iraq soldier Latif Yahia ( played by actor Dominic Cooper ), became a body double for Udday Hussein ( played also by actor Dominic Cooper ) . We also get a portrait of Saddam Hussein in this film, played by actor Philip Quast. I would not call this film unique in any way, but i still think The Devil´s Double is an interesting look behind the curtain of Saddam Hussein and his family. I hope that we do get to see a movie in the future, where we get to see a more personal film on the life of Saddam Hussein, to understand how he managed to run Iraq, and all the misery he caused. Speaking of Saddam, how many of you remember the UN Oil-for-Food Programme Scandal, revealed that 270 people have received oil vouchers in exchange for helping Saddam Hussein. Of course there are much more details on what happened during this time, but when many things were revealed, some of the men who were behind this ( including some politicians ), resigned from their position. I don´t remember this to be honest, but back in 2003 i was honestly not following all news events, instead i was more interested in the Nu Metal era. A film have been made surrounding the UN Oil-for-Food Programme Scandal, and i got a chance to see Backstabbing For Beginners earlier this week. Is this film a powerful story that should be seen, or should you avoid this film as soon as possible ?

Michael Sullivan ( Theo James ) is a young UN worker who is passionate to help people in need. The UN have taken out a specific programme, that is meant to help people in need, known as the UN Oil-for-Food Programme. But when Michael finds out, that people within the UN have been getting paid large amount of money, to help Saddam Hussein, he realize that this could cause very big issues within UN and all over the world. Michael´s boss Pasha ( Ben Kingsley ), a seasoned diplomat, knew about this and kept his mouth shut. Michael have no other choice, he needs to tell the truth, no matter what the prize is.

One of the reasons why i wanted to see this film, is knowing that this is actually based on a true story. When you know that this actually happened, you become curious to see how a film maker will portrait these events on screen. In the case of Backstabbing For Beginners, i get a sense that this is a film that tries to give a realistic view of the real story. I can not say if everything is true, but it does not matter. This is an interesting film, for different reasons. One of the biggest reasons why i find this film interesting, is because what actually happened. Knowing that the UN Oil-for-Food Programme was meant to help people in need, especially in poverty countries, you can´t help feeling that this should have been done differently. When you have such a great idea, and you take advantage of this for money and corruption, there is no excuse. And the film capture the feeling of corruption, as we get to see behind the scenes. Another great thing about this film is the characters, and i especially enjoy the performance of legendary actor Ben Kingsley, who plays Pasha. I would say that Pasha is one of the strongest characters of this film,  where you clearly see that he is fully aware of the problems, and if they get caught their career will be destroyed. I also enjoy the performance from legendary actor Jacqueline Bisset, as the character Christina Dupre. Her screen presence comes across very clear, and you can tell she knows how to handle her character correctly. Lead actor Theo James, as the main character Michael is also an interesting character. I would say that this might be one of the better performances i have seen actor Theo James do. I can mention that i will be writing a review of his Netflix film How It Ends, probably coming in early September. So what does not work with Backstabbing For Beginners ? There are a lot of dialogue scenes, and while some of the scenes are there for a good reason, there are other scenes that feels more like they fill out for some of the plot holes. If the film would have digged a bit deeper into the scandal, and did not focus on the dialogue scenes, i believe we could have had an even more interesting film. With that said, i still feel that this is a very important story to be told. Danish Director Per Fly ( who have directed a number of really good Scandinavian films, such as Monica Z ), have managed to make a film that will make you ask questions, and feel furious. How can people in the UN have allowed this to happen ? I would not call this one of the stronger films from director Per Fly, but i can understand why he made this film. There is a story here that needs to be told, especially for people who help poor countries. Backstabbing For Beginners shows that money controls the world, and corruption is very easy to enter the wrong places. A film worth your time, if you enjoy films based on a true story.

Rating: DDD