Search - The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein on DVD

One of the best five films of the decade

John Leighton | Brooklyn | 06/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mesmerizing, timeless, a perfect work of art. This is a 3 hour film set in Santa Fe during the Persian Gulf War. As it begins, we see a woman's children kidnapped and soon learn it is because her last name is "Hussein." As her life changes in dramatic and horrible ways, we also meet a teenage boy and a twentysomething soldier. The soldier returns to his home, both feted as a hero for his duty, and proud, but also mystified by the lack of jobs, the moronic assumptions expressed to him about the war, and the general superficiality of Americans.

The teenage boy, in a perfect depiction of youthful discovery, exerimentation, and inquisitiveness, befriends an elderly hippie woman who is strongly anti-war. The boy begins with childish actos of rebellion, and then begins attending the elderly woman's protest discussion group. Despite his age, he and the group accept each other instinctively, and the realness of his character is amazingly and adroitly acted and directed.

The movie captures America in an age of war, both small town, big city, local, international, and from all points of view. It refrains from commenting, simply portraying each in a course of action that feels completley authentic and true to life.

I saw this in a film festival in Maine, the director was there, and people stayed afterward to talk about this powerful film. It's depressing that what I consider one of the top five films of the decade is so unknown, but if you want to recall what life was like in the early '90s, get this DVD."