Swedish director Johan Renck, who previously directed the miniseries Chernobyl, is involved in a new film project about the last days of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
The film is based on Will Bardenwerper’s book “The Prisoner in His Palace: Saddam Hussein, His American Guards, and What History Leaves Unsaid” from 2017. The book is about the twelve American soldiers who were tasked with guarding Saddam Hussein after he was captured, and the time leading up to his execution in 2006.
The book is woven from multiple firsthand accounts and explores the two very different Saddam Husseins coexisting in one person: the defiant tyrant who uses torture and murder as tools, and a shrewd but contemplative prisoner who exhibits surprising affection, dignity and courage in the face of looming death. In Bardenwerper’s narrative, Saddam, the “man without a conscience,” gets many of those around him to examine theirs.
–hollywoodreporter.com
In addition to Chernobyl, Johan Renck has also directed episodes for TV series such as The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Vikings, Halt and Catch Fire, and Bloodline. In the 1990s, he also had a moderately successful music career in Sweden under the stage name Stakka Bo.
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