Iraq isn’t the first place you’d expect to find a bunch of kids playing the devil’s music. Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi’s documentary capitalises on the discovery of metal act Acrassicauda, linking the band’s fate with that of Iraq’s youth. The kicker is, the band had more freedom to rock under Saddam than in the US-imposed ‘democracy’. The film’s at its strongest when Moretti and Alvi make it to Baghdad, interviewing their subjects to the background clacks of gunfire, but weaker when their fanboy nature shines through. Helping the band cut a demo during their Syrian exile is bittersweet, but further examination of the war’s impact on them would’ve been more interesting.
Heavy Metal In Baghdad Review
In the late summer of 2006, in the middle of the insurgency, filmmakers Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi traveled to Baghdad to meet and interview the only heavy metal band in Iraq, Acrassicauda.
Release Date:
12 Sep 2008
Running Time:
84 minutes
Certificate:
15
Original Title:
Heavy Metal In Baghdad
The films at its strongest when Moretti and Alvi make it to Baghdad, but it suffers from a focusing too much on the music and not enough on the band's circumstances.
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