joanc-40854 Everybody knew this was a corrupt operation - I was in Baghdad in 97 and met some UN observers one told me when she went to the warehouses to check and they were empty, her bosses said to her "shut up and take your money"....there were some highly moral people hi up in the UN though like Dennis Halliday, Hans von Sponeck and Jutta Burghardt, of WFP who like the other two resigned. A very shameful time for the UN and of course the people of Iraq who still suffer to this day. This story needs to be told and the film should be pushed but it wont be...........

gradyharp Michael Soussan's memoir of his experiences working for the UN during the Iraqi crisis has been transformed into a tightly woven screenplay by Daniel Pine and director Per Fly. The true story is at once enlightening, horrifying, and maddening - some truth about the degree of corruption on al levels of government not only in this country but also around the world.Theo James takes on the role of Michal Soussan as he unravels the tale of the misappropriation of United Nations money in the Oil for Food program that was intended to supply food and medicine to the victims of Saddam Hussein's brutal madness in Iraq 2002 - 2003. The cast is uniformly excellent with the superb Ben Kingsley as the UN undersecretary Pasha in charge of the Oil for Food humanitarian effort to aid the desperate Iraqi citizens. He hires the somewhat naïve Michael Soussan to go to Baghdad to oversee the supposed infiltration of evil in the humanitarian program. Michael's naïveté fails to face the complex dealings of Christine Dupre (Jacqueline Bisset), the Kurdish Nashim (Belçim Bilgin), the evil Rasnetsov (Brian Markinson), and other characters portrayed by Rossif Sutherland, Rachel Wilson, Peshang Rad, among others.The depth and extent of corruption in the manipulation of the billions of dollars sent for humanitarian aid but foiled by Hussein and the governments and big businesses of the world leading up to the attack on Iraq by President George Bush's included photomontage speech is horrifying. Yes, we all have heard and read about the extent of global corruption, but to watch it occur along with mass killings and degrading behaviors is staggeringly real and disgusting. Did the film need to be made? Yes, if we all care about somehow finding a means to end the greed and hypocrisy that still remains a global plague. Not an inspiring film, but a necessary one. And well done.

Mark Turner While the war in Iraq remains somewhat fresh in the minds of so many there is a generation that really doesn't know all about it nor the things that occurred to push the war into motion at that time. Teens today may have born at that time but to them it's the past. And if they aren't aware of the war itself then the odds of them knowing about what occurred just prior such as the oil-for-food scandal are pretty slim. BACKSTABBING FOR BEGINNERS provides a look at just that moment in history.Michael Soussan (Theo James) is an idealistic young man, successful in his career handling figures but wanting to contribute more to the world. He wants to follow in the footsteps of his father, a career diplomat killed in a bombing when he was a child. He gets his opportunity when his resume crosses the desk of Pasha (Ben Kingsley), the man running the oil-for-food program for the United Nations.Michael is immediately tossed into the mix with a sink or swim move to have him condense research on the program for Pasha. Having worked with his father, Pasha guides him and instructs him to learn to narrow down the focus of any presentation he has to offer. And like that the two are off to pre-war Iraq.Once arriving Michael begins to question some of the things he's seeing and hearing about. Supplies that are being sent aren't being distributed equally with some sects of the country with close ties to Saddam Hussein getting the lion's share and the Kurds receiving next to nothing or spoiled goods, including medicine. He also begins to question the funding as bits and pieces of the money move about on the books.Pasha assures him that this is nothing more than how diplomats negotiate transactions. But Pasha hasn't convinced Christina Dupree (Jacqueline Bisset) who's been doing her own investigation. Discovering widespread corruption and the channeling of funds into the pockets of others than who it was intended for she makes sure Pasha knows that her report to the UN Security Council will not be a whitewashed job for his sake.Michael develops close ties with his interpreter, Nashim (Belcim Bilgin), a young woman who wants to do all she can to help those in her country. He learns from her that his predecessor was murdered for information he had, a list of everyone who'd taken kickbacks and payoffs from the program. As he learns this Dupree is also killed and her report tossed aside and replaced with one Michael has helped Pasha put together, one that he is called on to present before the UN.Finding himself in the midst of what will turn out to be one of the most major corruption scandals of all time Michael searches for a way to either justify the actions of those around him or to leave it all behind. The list is passed on to him for protection and the decision of how to handle it goes to him. Along the way lives will be placed in danger and his career placed in jeopardy. But is it his career he is most focused on or his original goal to help others?Much of the story told here was provided to news readers when it took place but the facts, figures and casts of characters involved were so vast that most would go on to forget it took place altogether. But in truth it displayed the amount of corruption that was found at the highest levels in the UN. It showed the weaknesses of the system put in place and this film does a great job of summing that up and making it much easier to understand.James, known mainly for his role as Four in the Divergent series of films, presents himself well here. As Michael his character moves from nave to overwhelmed to seeking justice. In lesser hands the part would have come off as just lost start to finish. Kingsley's Pasha is well played and his penchant for accents put to use here. Some will find humor in the fact that whoever taught this character English apparently used the F bomb so frequently that Pasha accentuates nearly everything he says with the word.No movie can present every single fact about a story like this one. But perhaps in being made it will cause people to revisit this story or at least encourage young people to learn more about it. As a movie it's entertaining and keeps you riveted waiting to see what happens next. It might seem dry to most since it's not non-stop car chases and hand to hand combat but it does hold your interest and is worth a watch.

lavatch In the bonus segment of the DVD of "Backstabbing for Beginners," writer-director Per Fly described his goal of capturing in the diplomatic world "the grey area of life where every human being exists." He also observed that corruption is the only way of life in the "system" of geopolitical affairs. The film was adapted from the Michael Soussan book that exposed the duplicity and greed behind the United Nations multi-billion-dollar "Oil-for-Food" program that was rife with bribes, kickbacks, and sweetheart deals. The corruption was so widespread that it involved two thousand companies and fifty-six countries. The screenplay depicted the intersection of the shady "Oil-for-Food" operation with the equally duplicitous pretext for the United States to invade Iraq. Occasionally, documentary footage is interspersed with the action of the film. Initially, Per Fly wanted to make a documentary film, then reshaped his screenplay into the fictionalized version of the story. But the blending of documentary and fictional styles is effective for this subject.The film was successful in evoking the director's vision of the "grey area" of characters who may be simultaneously humanitarians and crooks. This dialectic is no more apparent than in the character of the diplomat Pasha, brilliantly performed by Ben Kingsley. Pasha has genuine concern for feeding and providing medical care to starving children. But that does not prevent him as well from becoming a cynic and a grifter.One might even argue that Michael, the idealistic young protégé of Pasha, also lives in a grey area where he will sacrifice a vital piece of incriminating evidence in order to save Nashim, with whom he has fallen in love. Still, the young diplomat whom Pasha calls "The Kid" has enough integrity to continue the fight for of peace and justice.It is unfortunate that we do not have many examples of "The Kid" in current diplomatic affairs. But when they do surface, it is a cause for celebrating our humanity and the desire to move closer to a peaceful world order.