Syria: The Assads' Twilight

Footage of the uprising now threatening Bashar al-Assad in Syria bookends this French documentary, which combines narration, archival material, and interviews with politicians, diplomats, opposition figures, and journalists to sketch the history of the Assad family dictatorship and the central role it has long played in Middle East politics. Filmmakers Vincent de Cointet and Christophe Ayad briefly record the seizure of power by Hafez al-Assad in 1971 and the brutal tactics he employed to maintain rule until his death in 2000; their emphasis, however, is on his son and successor, Bashar al-Assad, a Western-trained ophthalmologist who was initially considered a reformer. Syria: The Assads' Twilight argues that the regime's endemic corruption inevitably led to a return to domestic repression—the cruelty of which is detailed in excerpts from conversations with Syrian dissidents and exiles, including members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood. The directors also look at the Assads' dexterity in maintaining Syria's importance as an anti-Israeli counterbalance in Middle East affairs, sometimes through the direct use of military power and political violence in Lebanon, and often by manipulating Western leaders to suit their purposes (U.S. officials are identified as victims of Syrian duplicity, but former French presidents Chirac and Sarkozy are the primary targets here). The film's subtitle is clearly intended to be a prophecy of the eventual downfall of Bashar al-Assad in the civil war now engulfing Syria. But whatever the outcome, this timely documentary offers an insightful portrait of a regime that has prospered through intimidation, brutality, and diplomatic scheming for nearly half a century. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)