| The Dictator | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Larry Charles |
| Written by | |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Lawrence Sher |
| Edited by |
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| Music by | Erran Baron Cohen |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 83 minutes[2] |
| Countries |
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| Budget | $65–100 million[4][5] |
| Box office | $190.2 million[4] |
The Dictator is a 2012political satireblack comedy film directed byLarry Charles and written bySacha Baron Cohen,Alec Berg,David Mandel andJeff Schaffer. Baron Cohen, in the role of Admiral General Aladeen, thedictator of the fictional Republic of Wadiya visiting theUnited States, stars alongsideAnna Faris andBen Kingsley.
ProducersJeff Schaffer andDavid Mandel said that Baron Cohen's character was inspired by real-lifedictators withpersonality cults, such asKim Jong Il ofNorth Korea,Idi Amin ofUganda,Colonel Muammar Gaddafi ofLibya,Bokassa I of theCentral African Empire,Mobutu Sese Seko ofZaire, andSaparmurat Niyazov ofTurkmenistan.[6] Despite the Republic of Wadiya being located in real-lifeEritrea, its own dictator,Isaias Afwerki, was not referenced as inspiration. The film's opening credits sarcastically dedicate it "in loving memory" to Kim Jong Il, whodied in 2011.
The Dictator was released on May 16, 2012, byParamount Pictures, and received mixed reviews from critics. It was a box office success, grossing $190 million.
The Republic of Wadiya,[a] located in theHorn of Africa, has for two decades been ruled by dictator Omar Aladeen. Upon his death, he is succeeded by his son, Admiral-General Haffaz Aladeen. Aladeen surrounds himself with female bodyguards,sponsors terrorism, changes many words in the Wadiyan dictionary to "Aladeen", and developsnuclear weapons to be usedagainst Israel. He also refuses to sell Wadiya's oil fields, a promise he made to Omar before his death. After theUnited Nations Security Council resolves tointervene militarily, Aladeen travels to theHeadquarters of the United Nations inNew York City to address the council.
Shortly after arriving, Aladeen is kidnapped by Clayton, a bodyguard hired by Aladeen's uncle Tamir Mafraad, whom Omar passed over as successor in favor of Aladeen. Tamir then replaces Aladeen with adecoy; a very dim-witted shepherd named Efawadh whom he intends to manipulate into signing a documentdemocratizing Wadiya while opening up the oil fields to foreign interests. Aladeen escapes after Clayton accidentally burns himself to death in a failed torture attempt. When Clayton's burnt corpse is discovered, Tamir thinks that Aladeen has been killed. Meanwhile, Aladeen is practically unrecognizable, as Clayton has shaved off his beard.
Wandering through New York City in civilian clothes, Aladeen assumes the false identity of "Allison Burgers" and encounters Zoey, a human rights activist who offers him a job at herprogressive, alternative-lifestylecooperative. Aladeen refuses the offer and encounters Nadal, the former chief of Wadiya's nuclear weapons programme, whom Aladeen thought he had previously executed over an argument about themissile design. Aladeen follows him to New York's "Little Wadiya" district, which is populated by refugees from his own country, and enters a restaurant called Death to Aladeen. Aladeen recognizes some of the patrons as people he had ordered to execute. After a waiter recognizes him and his attempt to cover up his identity fails, Aladeen's true identity is almost uncovered but Nadal saves him. Nadal reveals that Aladeen has never executed anybody, as all the people who Aladeen had been ordered to be executed are simply sent into exile to the United States. Nadal agrees to help Aladeen regain his power, on the condition that Aladeen makes him head of Wadiya's nuclear programme again. Aladeen later accepts Zoey's job offer, as she is catering at the hotel where the signing will occur. Aladeen grows closer to Zoey and eventually falls in love with her. While turning around Zoey's struggling business, Aladeen begins imposing strict schedules on everyone, forming apersonality cult around Zoey and intimidating an inspector into giving the store a good review.
However, Aladeen's relationship with Zoey becomes strained after he decides to reveal his true self to her; she cannot love a man who was so brutal to his people. After acquiring a new beard taken from a corpse, Aladeen ziplines into the hotel and talks to Efawadh, who was fooled into thinking that the Supreme Leader was ill. At the signing ceremony, Aladeen tears up Tamir's document in front of the media and holds an impassioned speech praising the virtues of dictatorship. However, upon seeing Zoey in the room, he declares his love for her and, knowing her strongly-held views, vows to democratize Wadiya and open up the oil fields for business, but in a way where the general populace will benefit. Furious, Tamir attempts to shoot Aladeen. Efawadh saves Aladeen, getting hit in the head in the process, but survives, and Tamir is arrested.
A year later, Wadiya holds its first democratic elections, 30 years after its independence. However, they arerigged in favor of Aladeen, (who has now added the title "President-Prime Minister" to his previous Admiral-General), who, for example, uses tanks to force people into his voting line. Afterwards, he marries Zoey, but is horrified when shebreaks a glass with her foot and reveals herself to beJewish. Aladeen's convoy now consists ofeco-friendly cars; Nadal is reinstated; and Zoey reveals in an interview that she is pregnant with the couple's first child. Aladeen responds to the news by asking if Zoey is having "a boy or an abortion".
The unrated cut ofThe Dictator runs an additional 15 minutes from the original 83-minute theatrical version. Much of the added material is additional sexual content and dialogue. There is a scene following Aladeen falling asleep in the back of the store where one of his bodyguards, Etra, tries to kill him by beating him with her enlarged breasts on orders from Tamir. Another added scene is Mr. Ogden, the manager of the Lancaster Hotel, talking to Zoey at The Collective and cancelling the catering contract because of Aladeen.
Paramount Pictures described the film as "the heroic story of a North African dictator who risked his life to ensure thatdemocracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed."[10] Paramount said the film was inspired by the novelZabibah and the King by Iraqi PresidentSaddam Hussein,[11] thoughThe New York Times later reported it is not an adaptation.[7] Kristen Wiig and Gillian Jacobs had been considered for the role that Anna Faris eventually played and whichVariety said "calls for strong improvisational skills".[9] Baron Cohen, who also plays Efawadh in the film, based his performance primarily on Libya'sMuammar Gaddafi.[12][13] The film is dedicated toKim Jong-il who died in December 2011.[14]
Morocco had been considered as a filming location.[9] Location shooting took place at thePlaza de España inSeville and on the island ofFuerteventura, Spain,[15] and in New York City from June to August 2011.[7] Baron Cohen said theUnited Nations refused to let him film scenes inside the UN headquarters and claimed they explained this by saying, "we represent a lot of dictators, and they are going to be very angry by this portrayal of them, so you can't shoot in there." When asked about it, UN Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon's spokesman commented by saying only, "Sacha Baron Cohen has a wonderful sense of humor."[16] The UN shots were at a soundstage atGrumman Studios inBethpage, New York.[17]
Although Aladeen is portrayed as antisemitic and wishes to destroy Israel, the "Wadiyan" language he speaks throughout the film is actuallyHebrew, as Baron Cohen is himself Jewish.[18]
A trailer was made for aSuper Bowl XLVI commercial in February 2012. Archival news footage ofBarack Obama,Hillary Clinton andDavid Cameron in the beginning of the trailer are excerpts of their 2011 speeches condemningColonel Gaddafi.[19]
Internet rumors claimed theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had banned Baron Cohen from attending the84th Academy Awards in his role as Admiral General Aladeen, but the academy said the rumors were unfounded, saying, "We haven't banned him. We're just waiting to hear what he's going to do", and specifying of the publicity stunt: "We don't think it's appropriate. But his tickets haven't been pulled. We're waiting to hear back."[20] Baron Cohen eventually appeared at the awards' red carpet with a pair of uniformed female bodyguards (resembling Gaddafi'sAmazonian Guard) and wielding an urn purportedly containing the ashes of North Korean dictatorKim Jong Il, which the actor spilled ontoE! hostRyan Seacrest. The ashes were later reported to be pancake mix.[21]
Baron Cohen appeared in character on the May 5, 2012, episode ofSaturday Night Live during the "Weekend Update" segment, in which he appeared to torture film criticsA. O. Scott andRoger Ebert to give the film positive reviews, as well as seemingly holding directorMartin Scorsese hostage.[22] Baron Cohen released a video in the wake of the2012 French presidential election, congratulatingFrançois Hollande on his victory,[23] and appeared in character with the pair of uniformed female bodyguards on the May 7, 2012, episode ofThe Daily Show.[24]
A publicity prank involved fake invitations that arrived at mailboxes inWashington D.C., according to which "PresidentRobert Mugabe and the Ministry of Education, Sport, Art, and Culture invite you to the Premiere ofThe Dictator." The screening of the film would purportedly take place at Mugabe's palace in Zimbabwe on May 12.[25]
The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD on August 21, 2012.[26]
Thefilm score was composed by Sacha Baron Cohen's brother,Erran Baron Cohen.The Dictator – Music from the Motion Picture was released on May 8, 2012, by Aladeen Records.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Aladeen Madafaka (The Next Episode)" (performed by Naufalle "Aiwa" Al Wahab, El Tayeb "Mr Tibbz" Ibrahim andAdmiral General Aladeen) |
| 2:43 | |
| 2. | "Ila Nzour Nebra" (performed by Jalal Hamdaoui and Driver) |
| 3:22 | |
| 3. | "Habibi" (performed byAli Hassan Kuban) | Ali Hassan Kuban | 4:21 | |
| 4. | "Everybody Hurts" (performed by MC Rai) | 5:28 | ||
| 5. | "Wahrane Wahrane" (performed byKhaled) |
| 4:43 | |
| 6. | "9 to 5" (performed by Michelle J. Nasser) | Dolly Parton |
| 2:41 |
| 7. | "Goulou L'Mama" (performed by Jalal Hamdaoui and Cheb Rayan) | Jalal el Hamdaoui | 4:01 | |
| 8. | "The Song of Admiral General Sargeant Aladeen" (performed byErran Baron Cohen andOmar Fadel) | 2:56 | ||
| 9. | "Let's Get It On" (performed by Mohamed Amer) |
| 1:57 | |
| 10. | "Raoui" (performed bySouad Massi) | Souad Bendjael | 3:46 | |
| 11. | "Money's on the Dresser" (performed by Erran Baron Cohen and Jules Brookes) |
| 2:45 | |
| 12. | "Our Beloved Leader" (performed by The Aladeenies) | 2:01 | ||
| Total length: | 40:44 | |||
"Mundian To Bach Ke" byPanjabi MC andJay-Z was featured in the trailers.[27] "Hey Baby (Drop It to the Floor)" byPitbull was featured in the second trailer.
Review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 56% based on 219 reviews, and a rating average 5.90/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Wildly uneven but consistently provocative,The Dictator is a decent entry in the poli-slapstick comedy genre."[28] OnMetacritic, the film was given score of 58 out of 100 based on 41 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[29] Audiences polled byCinemaScore during opening weekend gave the film an average grade of "C" on a scale ranging from A+ to F.[30]
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of a possible four, saying, "The Dictator is funny, in addition to being obscene, disgusting, scatological, vulgar, crude and so on. Having seen Sacha Baron Cohen promoting it on countless talk shows, I feared the movie would feel likedéjà vu. But no. He establishes a claim to be the best comic filmmaker now working. And in a speech about dictatorships, he practices merciless political satire."[31]Slant Magazine conversely concluded, "bound to be one of the year's biggest comedy letdowns,The Dictator doesn't so much stir hot-button issues as showcase a great satirist off his game."[32] Keith Uhlich ofTime Out approved, giving it four stars out of five, and calling the opening scenes in the film "a brisk, hilariousjeremiad" and its ending monologue "a rousing, uproarious climactic speech worthy of bothChaplin andTeam America."[33]
Several reviews noted that theMarx Brothers' 1933 film,Duck Soup, inspired parts of Baron Cohen's 2012 film.[34]Scott Tobias ofThe A.V. Club noted that "Admiral General Aladeen and Rufus T. Firefly share the same bloodline, representing a more generalized contempt for world leaders of any stripe, whether they don a 'supreme beard' or a greasepaint moustache."[35] Scott Wilson of theNashville Scene detected "an echo here of that funniest of xenophobe-baiting funnies,Duck Soup."[36]Peter Travers of theRolling Stone claimed that Baron Cohen's film "dodges soothing convention and ultimately merits comparisons to the Marx Brothers'Duck Soup and Charlie Chaplin'sThe Great Dictator."[37]
TheIrish Examiner wrote that “Sacha Baron Cohen atones for the sins of 'Bruno' with this gleefully bad-taste fish-out-of-water comedy, which kicks sand in the eye of political correctness” and that “no subject is off limits – the September 11 attacks, rape, sexual equality, Judaism – and Larry Charles's film tramples merrily over social taboos, hitting more targets than it misses as the titular despot runs amok in the capitalist playground of New York City.“[38]
TheTimes argued that “withThe Dictator, Sacha Baron Cohen makes a radical break with the comedic style of his past films. Gone is the con-man comedian, fooling celebrities and the public with fictional characters. Gone, too, is the mockumentary style that he and his director on Borat, Bruno and now this film, Larry Charles, made their own.The Dictator is the kind of conventional feature thatPeter Sellers,Tony Hancock or evenMike Myers could have made.” The publication also claimed that “it's likely to offend prudes of both the sexually and politically correct persuasions.”[39]
TheWashington Post wrote that “Cohen has thankfully dispensed with ambushing real-life people for squirm-inducing interviews. But an early stunt involving a Wii game based on the 1972 Munich Olympics falls flatter than a stale matzo, a running gag about Hollywood stars selling sexual favors quickly loses steam and it can be stipulated that rape jokes simply aren't funny.”[40]
The film is banned in several member-countries of theCommonwealth of Independent States (CIS), in particular nations with real-life leaders commonly described as dictators. InBelarus, there is said to be an informal ban on showing the film,[41][42] but state officials denied this referring to a shortage of cinemas equipped to show the film, which was distributed exclusively in digital format.[43] Authorities inTajikistan concludedThe Dictator was incompatible with the nation's "mentality".[44] As for other states, the film was described as "unlikely" to be shown inTurkmenistan,[45] shortened to 71 minutes by the censorship inUzbekistan,[46] and banned from screens two weeks after its premiere inKazakhstan.[47]
Outside of the CIS, only the censored version of the film was released in Pakistan, and the film was reportedly blocked from cinemas inMalaysia.[48] In Italy, the reference to the "Italian Prime Minister" in the scene withMegan Fox was substituted by a generic "politician" to avoid reference to the then-president of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic,Silvio Berlusconi.[49][better source needed]
The film has been described by some critics as beingIslamophobic, particularly noting the pronounced stereotype of Middle Eastern dictators, who are mostly Muslims.[50] It is also reported to negatively portray stereotypical views aboutArabs through visual symbols and attributes within characters and settings. Aladeen himself portrays a stereotypical Muslim Arab ruler identity, despite Aladeen not actually being Arab; his iconic beard and traditional Middle Eastern traits are things that allow audiences to link his character to Arabs and Muslims. This is considered controversial because of the connection between Aladeen and bin Laden throughout the film, where both visual and auditory components suggest that there is a close friendship between the two.[51] However, the controversial stance and negative depiction of bin Laden further reinforces the idea that Arab dictators are terrorists and "barbaric".
The film further allows for the generic and stereotypical ideas of Muslims and Arabs as backwards, which can be seen through the visual comparisons between the West and the East. For instance, during Aladeen's visit to New York, he and his men arrive riding camels, whereas the background of the city depicts cars and other modern modes of transportation.[51] Furthermore, another misleading portrayal of Arabs is demonstrated through Aladeen's hyper-sexuality, particularly the scenes where he is surrounded by his "harem", multiple women engaging intimately, which supports stereotypical exotic images of Arab women.[52]
Wadiya's flag is also said to resemble theflag of Iraq due to both flags having similar lettering, which suggests that these depictions of Wadiya as "the Orient", an inferior nation to those of the "West", further exemplifies how Hollywood and Western media view and represent the East, especially when there is a political agenda at play. This is also reflected through Aladeen's intention of developing nuclear weapons to use against Western nations and Israel, further demonizing Arab nations, according to some negative critiques of the film.[52]
La película 'El dictador', del humorista Sacha Baron Cohen, que se rodó parcialmente en Fuerteventura, se prepara para su estreno en todo el mundo. En el primer tráiler, que ya se puede ver, se aprecian algunas imágenes rodadas en la isla majorera, en concreto un plano aéreo con carros de combate y escenas con unas militares haciendo ejercicios de artes marciales. ... El rodaje incluyó también escenas en Sevilla, concretamente en la plaza de España.Google TranslationArchived November 6, 2013, at theWayback Machine: "The film 'The Dictator' ... was filmed partially in Fuerteventura.... In the first trailer, ... one can see some footage shot on the island of Fuerteventura, in particular an airplane with tanks and military scenes.... The shoot also included scenes in Seville, specifically in the plaza...."
