Primarily this is a study of the character of a man who changed the course of history . . . his strengths and his flaws.

House of Saddam, a four-hour miniseries that debuts on HBO at 9:00 pm Eastern Time, December 7, 2008, examines the repressive Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and the lives of the people who were in his inner circle. It stars Igal Naor (Rendition, Munich) as Saddam and Oscar nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Sand and Fog) as his cousin and first wife, Sajida Khairallah Tulfah.

A co-production of HBO and the BBC, House of Saddam is more a psychological drama than a simple, chronological narrative. It explores the circumstances within Iraq and within Saddam’s family that contributed to the decisions he made in his dealings with the international community and the Iraqi people. The why is as important as the what.

Many people who knew Saddam and his family were interviewed as part of the research for the series. They ranged from cooks and manservants to politicians and palace insiders. These interviews were then cross-referenced against documents, photographs and home movies left behind by the Hussein family.

Alex Holmes was the miniseries’ executive producer, writer (with Stephen Butchard) and director on two of its four episodes (Jim O’Hanlon directed the other two). On December 2, Holmes talked with ArmchairGeneral.com in an exclusive interview about the program and his own interpretations of Saddam’s behavior.

 

ArmchairGeneral.com: What first drew you to this project?

Alex Holmes: Originally, I was researching a film about events in Fallujah in April 2004, the first real outbreak of insurgency in post-invasion Iraq. I had been introduced to some people who had been part of the insurgency in Fallujah, and I soon realized I needed to understand more about the recent political culture in Iraq if I was to understand how these insurgents thought.

That led me to research Saddam. I discussed what I was learning about him and his inner circle with colleagues at the BBC. The more I told them about what I was learning about Saddam’s inner circle, the more they felt that this was the real story that needed to be told—an inside perspective instead of a geopolitical view that news analysis tended to provide. What interested me personally was the way in which the political and the family stories mapped onto one another and were so closely intertwined.

ACG: You seem drawn to stories about people with defects. Your 2004 television movie Every Time You Look at Me is about a character with physical deformities caused by thalidomide. In Flesh and Blood (2002), the protagonists’ parents have severe learning disorders. Did the character of Saddam appeal to you as a filmmaker because he had what might be called a "moral disorder," a sociopathic nature?

AH: Saddam was a very strong person, very charismatic, a strong leader, but ultimately for me his flaws are what defined him. His strengths were undermined by his inability to trust any of the people around him. During his rise to power he felt better able to trust his family than anyone else, so he surrounded himself with relatives who filled many of the most significant government positions. As their authority grew, he became distrustful of them too, removing and killing them one by one. Yes, I would describe the inability to trust as pretty disabling in someone’s character, a "moral disorder" as you say.

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