Return to the Land of Wonders

For the citizens of Iraq circa 2004, their country sits at a tenuous crossroads. On the one hand, they are finally free of a dictator who dominated their lives and their laws for decades. On the other hand, the occupying forces of the United States have thrown the nation into a kind of controlled chaos. With a failing infrastructure that can barely keep the power on consistently, and an implied power struggle between the forces of democracy and those who feel religious rule is the only way to appease the people, all out anarchy and/or civil war is on everyone’s minds. Luckily, there appears to be some light at the end of the turmoil tunnel. An interim committee has been formed to draft a proposed Constitution for the country, and there is hope that with a wide net cast among the community, more voices – some stilled for many years –1 will finally have a say in Iraq’s sovereignty.

At least, that’s the wish of Adnan Pachachi, a former Iraqi ambassador long exiled from his homeland. Returning to what the locals call “the land of wonders”, the 80 year old ex-official has been asked to take part in the preparations for elections, and his input will be instrumental in drafting the country’s new Bill of Rights. Along with his documentarian daughter Maysoon, who hasn’t seen the land of her birth in over 30 years, he will help pave the way for a new era in Iraq and hopefully, the rest of the Middle East. The film Maysoon made while accompanying her parent takes its title – and it’s overall approach – from that previously mentioned description of the country’s considered marvels. But this Return to the Land of Wonders wields a double-edge sword of significance. While the Pachachi’s are literally revisiting the nation of their birth, the process being started promises to return the region to its previous status as a post-modern Arab paradise.

Sadly, individuals like Adnan Pachachi have their work cut out for them. Switching rather randomly between heated political debates and genial reminiscences about Iraq’s regal past, using both calm, considered interviews and heartfelt harangues by persons wronged by both Saddam and the United States, Maysoon paints a troubling portrait of a country completely ravaged and rudderless. Perhaps the most interesting initial fact we learn is that, for nearly two decades, Iraq has been at war. Most of its men have mere military training and that’s it. Once one set of battles ended – and before another set started – the suddenly unemployable soldiers roamed the countryside, desperate for work and a chance to feed their families. Almost all hated Hussein on this very basic of levels. He demanded they serve to fulfill his political and power ambitions, but provided nothing for their efforts once the call to duty had ended.

Such a discovery leads to one of Return to the Land of Wonders many factual mindblowers. Believe it or not, some of what George W. Bush and his party line toadies have argued over for the last few years, that is that Americans would be welcomed as liberators and embraced for the change in government, is actually true. Before sectarian violence and outside terror groups came in and overran the country, bringing it closer to civil war than ever before, the US was viewed as an essential evil, and the invasion a lamentable but necessary step in the direction of democracy. To hear the everyday citizens speak, they would much rather have Western troops than Saddam’s death squads roaming the streets. They are especially glad that the war has resulted in the lifting of sanctions. In the film, many Iraqis address the camera directly, requesting that ‘better medicines’ and other basic human needs be sent to them as soon as possible.

Another amazing moment finds a group of women discussing the emerging role of their gender in Iraqi politics and policies. Thanks to the theocratic foundation of most Middle Eastern nations, females find themselves oppressed, their views negated and ignored. But now, with empowerment just a 62 article document away, they begin to experience a sense of freedom that’s completely foreign to them. During a teacher’s convention, one ecstatic instructor exclaims that, with the end of Saddam’s rule, she dreams of being able to travel and see the rest of the world. “Even if it’s just a small bit” she smiles, it will be worth it. There is an undercurrent of discovery throughout Return to the Land of Wonders that is supposed to inspire a feeling of relief amongst the viewers. If a nation this knotted up in corruption, death and destruction can envision itself enlightened and progressive, then maybe the forced removal of Saddam was worth it.

But there are portents of oncoming horror sprinkled throughout the vignette-oriented film. We hear officials argue over the notion of recognizing the various separate religious factions legally, their veiled disgust hinting at the bedlam that now (2006) faces the nation. Similarly, America’s time as a pseudo savior is more or less drawing to a close. A veterinarian who was stopped by the side of the road and, according to his version of the story, thrown into jail for no apparent reason, ends up in Abu Ghurayb, and has his own horror story about the infamous prison, and some live ammunition to expose. Another family argues that soldiers routinely raid homes, stealing all the gold, jewelry and precious metals/gems they find. We even hear tell of radiation tipped missiles, loosely connected to Israel’s bombing of Iraq’s nuclear power plant in the ’80s that spread atomic poison across the country. Maysoon’s narration tells us that their fallout is predicted to finally dissipate…in several million years.

When viewed in light of events today, Return to the Land of Wonders feels awfully fatalistic. Iraq is presently a country teetering on the brink of all out anarchy, with over 1,000 known acts of violence against citizens and soldiers occurring monthly, a US President locked into a strategy that can’t possibly save face, and a Iraqi government pressured by religious leaders, internal corruption and unsettled loyalties. Within such a dire situation, any documentary appears like the cinematic version of tempting fate. Maysoon Pachachi wants to prove to viewers that Iraqi citizens want change. But the present day facts argue against her findings.

Still, in areas where bombings, both military and suicide, destroy the very fabric of existence almost daily, where the sound of gunfire is as readily recognizable as the Muslim call to prayer, we see people prepared to make their country better, to rebuild it to its former glory and have it stand alongside the first world powers on the planet. But the lack of a sound US strategy, the uncontrolled influx of insurgency, and the dangerous ramifications of Islamic fundamentalism have all but destroyed that dream. Some may look at this engaging if occasionally unfocused film and call it a snapshot of a brief moment of hope in Iraq’s brutal history. As another year of occupation and violence begins, it looks more like a requiem.