Daily Baghdad

Daily Baghdad is an intimate, humanitarian look at daily life in war-torn Baghdad following the fall of Saddam Hussein and the rise of America's military presence. Filmmaker Romain Goupil's cinema vérité approach works well, as the absence of voiceover narration allows the viewer to fully absorb the simple, day-to-day details of life in the Iraqi capital (although we are constantly reminded that this is an occupied zone, American forces are only glimpsed in the background). Goupil follows Abbas ad Roubay, a former member of Saddam's Republican Guard, and members of his family as they try to regain stability in a city that is literally piecing itself back together. The film is comprised of four 25-minute sections devoted to Abbas and his brother (a former political prisoner); his mother and her sisters; a brother-in-law who works as a journalist; and Abbas's father and the family's attendance at the wedding of a niece. Although the particulars here will surely grow dated, the universal message is clear: this family is like any other, and we can all relate to their daily lives and struggles; more to the point, we can even gain a new perspective on the Iraq war, from those who have suffered in its midst. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (J. Shannon)