Panorama’s beguiling Devil
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British actor Dominic Cooper (Mamma Mia!, An Education, The History Boys), plays the kind of juicy double role actors rarely get in The Devil’s Double, a Belgium-funded English-language feature about the man who became the body double for the son of Iraqi dictactor Saddam Hussein.
The film is based on the amazing true story of Latif Yahia, who had the bad fortune of looking very much like Uday, the son of Saddam Hussein. He was forced to work as a double for the cruel Uday, and later wrote a book about his experiences. Michael Thomas’s screenplay is based on his book.
The film was directed by New-Zealander Lee Tamahori, who normally tackles bigger films such as Once Were Warriors and James Bond entry Die Another Day, but who here shows he can also make a character drama against an explosive background that works.
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