THE SITUATION
SNAFU In Iraq, By Designs Both Complex and Deliberate
PopcornReel.com Movie Review: "The Situation"
By Omar P.L. Moore/March 27, 2007 (the film opens in San Francisco and select
cities on March 30)
Iraqi civilians run for cover in Philip Haas' "The Situation", a political drama
set during the current conflict and violence in Iraq. Connie Nielsen is
right of center in this photo with a light brown satchel bag. (Photo:
Shadow Distribution)
It would be easy (and perhaps unbelievable) to say that Philip
Haas directs the first feature film to be shot in Iraq since the March 19, 2003
invasion of that country by U.S. forces, and "The Situation" is a complicated,
agonizing depiction of pain, politics and frustration. But the film was
actually shot in Morocco with a look and feel so realistic that it is more
journalism documentary-style than celluloid fiction. "The Situation" is
compelling, incisive and powerful. What's more is that Mr. Haas' film is
good, and perhaps even better than that. Connie Nielsen headlines as Anna,
an American journalist in Iraq who is assigned to write a story on an Iraqi
leader she admires, who has been assassinated.
The most impressive thing about "The Situation" is not its acting (which is
better than adequate) but its locations. Everything is authentic -- too
authentic and too fresh -- not only because we are there -- but also because the
civil unrest and international conflict in Iraq is continuing in real life as
you read this (and as you watch the film.) Death, and more death, equals
zero life for all involved. Souls and lives have been torn from the hearts
of innocent families by the seeds of endless, ongoing violence. The
cynicism of the film's characters on both sides of a conflict questionable in
many, many peoples' minds, is accurate. The predicaments and dangers
resulting therein, are accurate. In fact, if there is any criticism at all
of "The Situation", it is that it is not violent or graphic enough.
(Countries whose media routinely air and publish graphic photos of mangled,
shredded and blood-splattered corpses might look upon "The Situation" and the
bloodshed and killings it depicts as child's play.)
As a journalist, Miss Nielsen's Anna character is placed in peril -- and as real
as the perilous and suspenseful situations are for journalists in Iraq, it is
amazing that Anna doesn't face even more danger. Despite this, Miss
Nielsen brings a gravitas and sensitivity to her role. She isn't good at
playing screaming damsels-in-distress, and that's more than a welcome relief.
Her Anna is brave, empathetic and warm, always displaying a courage and
intelligence that suits both the tenor and temperature of Mr. Haas' film so
well. Few actors in the world can deliver the instant credibility that
Nielsen does, and rather than thunder onto the film canvas with a blitzkrieg of
a performance, Nielsen lets the film's events come to her, acting accordingly
and placing her character in a position where she becomes inured and slowly
assimilated into the volatile landscape of Iraq, instead of as a foreigner who
stands out like a sore thumb in a "strange" land. For example, Nielsen's
Anna doesn't lead a group of Iraqis away from explosions in their own country,
as some films might have a big-name star actor do, she is instead quiet yet
active, assertive but tempered.
Connie Nielsen as Anna in Philip Haas' "The Situation", which opens on
Friday, March 30 in San Francisco and various Northern California Bay Area
cities (Photo: Shadow Distribution)
Incidentally, it is worth noting that Anna is loosely based on the film's
screenwriter Wendell Steavenson, a journalist who reported in Iraq and an author
who now resides in Iran with her fiancee, a photojournalist based on actor Mido
Hamadi's Zaid character, an Iraqi press photographer whose relationship with
Anna deepens, much to the chagrin of her boyfriend Dan (Damian Harris), an
American intelligence official who is jaded and cynical but honestly believes
that winning the war in Iraq will take a victory over one heart and one mind at
a time.
Accordingly, in "The Situation" the political stakes are high, but what Mr. Haas
does so well is show that behind all the militarization, corruption, violence,
recrimination, politicking and posturing are real lives and real people.
The film balances drama, misunderstanding, romance, violence and betrayal, which
are all wrapped up in a political powder-keg just itching to explode.
Across the board, the actors, to fit the charged atmosphere, convey the required
urgency and desperation, anguish and fear, and intimate moments of joy and
relief. Mr. Haas need not be invited to over-direct -- he certainly
doesn't direct the film in a hyperkinetic fashion -- the Morocco-for-Iraq
locations and the subject matter direct themselves. Scenes where telephone
conversations are held amidst the sounds of firefights and explosions are
especially tense.
A translator, Bashar (Omar Berdouni) accompanies Anna to Samarra, where two
young Iraqi teenage boys have deliberately been thrown off a bridge into a river
by several U.S. marines (a real-life incident that Ms. Steavenson reported on
while she was in the thick of the conflict in Iraq three or four years ago.)
Only one of the young boys survives. This opening event is but a microcosm
of other events in "The Situation", whose title is all the more ingenious
because it tells us everything and nothing about itself. The audience is
therefore invited to ask inevitable questions. What is the situation?
Why is the situation? How did people get into the situation, this
situation? The final image of the film accurately represents the
achievement of a metaphoric blur or an impasse when attempting to answer these
questions, as well as the realization that the more one looks closely at a major
event in recent history (such as the present-day Iraq conflict, or the day
September 11, 2001 in the U.S.) the more distant, amorphous, incomprehensible
and unattainable it appears.
"The Situation" is not rated by the Motion Picture Association
of America, but it does contain violence, occasionally bloody and graphic, with
some sexual situations and sensuality. The film's running time is one hour
and 46 minutes. "The Situation" opens in San Francisco and several other
Northern California Bay Area cities, and will open in Santa Fe, New Mexico and
several other American cities within the next few weeks. The film, which
is in English, and Arabic dialect languages, with English subtitles for North
American audiences, has
already been released in New York City and continues to play there. The
film's cinematographer is Sean Bobbitt. Curtiss Clayton is the editor and
Anita Yavich is the film's costume designer.
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