Underplayed Gems

Clash of Loyalties (1983)

Clash of Loyalties poster
Original title
المسألة الكبرى
Directed by
Mohamed Shukri Jameel
Genre
Film
Country
Iraq
Runtime
2h
Rating
7.5 of 10 from 2 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

This film tells the story of how Iraq was formed from Mesopotamia after World War One. It follows British officials and local figures during that time of change.

historicepicslow-burnseriousdramaticsobergrand scalecontemplative

What happens

Clash of Loyalties (Arabic: المسألة الكبرى, romanized: al-masʿāla al-kubrā, lit. 'The Great Question') is a 1983 Iraqi film focusing on the formation of Iraq out of Mesopotamia in the aftermath of the First World War. The film was financed by Saddam Hussein, filmed in Iraq (mainly at the Baghdad Film Studios in Baghdad's Mansour neighbourhood and on location at the Tigris-Euphrates marshlands, Babylon and Kut) at the height of the Iran–Iraq War and starred Oliver Reed as Gerard Leachman, Marc Sinden as Captain Dawson and Helen Ryan as Gertrude Bell, with score by Ron Goodwin. Investigative journalist James Montague, writing in the July 2014 issue of Esquire magazine, claimed that Marc Sinden spied for the British Government's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) during the filming of Clash of Loyalties in Iraq, after being made "an offer he couldn't refuse, appealing to his duty and his pride in Queen and Country." In the article, Sinden admitted that it was true. Both Arab and English versions of the film were produced. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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