Live from Baghdad

Outstanding HBO movie charting the coming of age of CNN during the opening days of the Gulf War, as producers Robert Wiener (Michael Keaton) and Ingrid Formaneck (Helena Bonham Carter) doggedly walk a tightrope between reporting the facts as they see them and keeping the Iraqi authorities from expelling them. Excellent supporting cast, in particular David Suchet as Naji Al-Hadithi, the Iraqi information minister and Bruce McGill (dodgy accent notwithstanding) as Peter Arnett. Mick Jackson's best work since A Very British Coup (1988) and hopefully the catalyst to re-energise Michael Keaton's career. In short, the finest film of it's kind since Under Fire (1983) and a wake-up call to CNN to get back to real reporting and cease its current pathetic spiral into celebrity-obsessed 24 hour chat-show oblivion.

The appeal of this movie is that it makes you feel the fear, excitement, and tension that the journalists covering the Gulf War had to have felt. There are many scenes that accomplish this very well, including the scenes where the journalists are in Kuwait investigating stories of Iraqi soldiers taking babies from incubators and leaving them for dead. The interview scene with Hussein is very well done; you can imagine the intimidation Wiener felt when he had to clip a microphone on Hussein's tie.

However, nothing in the movie brings out these emotions in the audience like the shots of the skies of Baghdad illuminated with bombs and anti-aircraft fire. The bravery shown by the journalists who covered this from their hotel room instead of taking shelter is amazing to me to this day, and the movie really communicates a sense of how they must have felt.

I probably wouldn't have been anywhere near Baghdad had I been in their shoes, but now I know how they must have felt.

In 1990, the producer Robert Wiener (Michael Keaton) convinces the direction of CNN to go to Iraq with his crew due to the increasing tension of this country with USA. When Baghdad was bombed and Iraq invaded in 1991, CNN was the unique television broadcasting the events, being worldwide projected as a great news channel. I liked very much 'Live From Baghdad', mainly because the story is very decent and engaging and stays politically neutral, trying not to manipulate the viewer with any political crap, and limiting to show the hard work and difficulties of the CNN team to work in country under the pressure of an eminent war and with a totally different culture. The direction and the performance of the cast are excellent, but Michael Keaton, Helena Bonham Carter and David Suchet (whose name I have not found in the IMDb credits) are superb. The original title of my review was 'A Decent Movie', and for my surprise there is another review with this title. Once there is a very interesting line about the karma of a country with oil fields, which would be a cemetery of forest and dinosaurs, I decided to highlight this uncommon reference. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): 'Ao Vivo de Bagdá' ('Live From Baghdad')

Excellent teleplay, exemplary performances. Riveting and thought-provoking. A top-notch production all around.

Beyond what else has been said, LIVE FROM BAGHDAD hails those who, as late as 1991, stood up for the freedom of the press, the battles waged, the compromises made, their failures as well as their successes. Bush the elder had ordered the press out of Baghdad, but failed, as this teleplay depicts. When Bush the younger reentered Iraq, he offered the press corps a leash instead, which most agencies snapped up.

LIVE FROM BAGHDAD, a brilliant bit of reporting done by an extraordinary CNN team, but also a subtle homage to those who help preserve one of the most vital proponents of liberty -- a free press.

"Live from Baghdad", a new production of the HBO network, tells us the lifetime story of the people who have two things - guts and judgment. The first one allows them to go to a place precisely at the same time, as other people tend to leave it at any cost. Thanks to the second, they manage to get themselves back in one piece.

The CNN producers Robert Wiener and Ingrid Formaneck have reported a million of top stories form around the World. They know for sure what kind of reports Atlanta (the headquarter of CNN) is waiting from them, and what's infinitely more important, the billions of people in front of TV screens. Like any other reporter involved in the 24-hours news production, they have only one thought in mind all the time - to find a new story to report. In August of 1990, as Iraqi invaded to Kuwait, the both of them were absolutely confident - they are about to report the story of the lifetime.

The crucial part of the movie is the natural and realistic reflection of issues and problems those people face. Many of the situations can be barely imagined by a person who has never been in a third-world country. In the countries where nobody can be sure in anything until to the last moment; where any decision can be completely changed in a blink of the eye; where a direct order from the certain people can overwrite any low; and eventually, where the only one absolute way to solve an issues is the "under-table" cash.

Even though the movie is abundantly saturated with the action scenes, the individuality and the personal skills of the main characters are highly emphasized. Along with the total dedication to the job, Ingrid Formaneck manages to remain a real woman. Strong and weak at the same time, she can support people around her, but also needs to be supported. She doesn't walk around with a machine-gun and she knows when something is too much for her. Robert Wiener is not going to leave the ashes and broken lives behind him, not even to make the Atlanta' bosses happy. The mixture of courage, persistence and caution, honesty and decency helps him and his team to achieve the incredible result. One after another, a set of small scenes is drawing the whole picture of the story. It helps us to understand the inner feelings of the people involved in these events. The way Robert Wiener stares at Saddam Houssein while attaching a microphone on his tie; a barely perceptible nod Naji Al-Hadithi (an official from the Iraq' Ministry of information) gave to Robert on his question about the fate of an American, hold by the Iraq's government.

As for the political message - it is quite independent. The movie clearly shows the Iraqi aggression on Kuwait with the followed devastation of the country, as well as specific aspects of the life under the military-driven government. However, it doesn't make any attempts of judgment or evaluation. The main focus of the movie remains on the journalist's job and their efforts to cover the story as complete as possible.