In 2011, Lionsgate released a shocking movie - "The Devil's Stand-in". The film tells the story of a brave man named Latif Yahya, who is willing to be his stand-in for Saddam's eldest son Uday and spend four difficult years together.
The bizarre plot of the film attracted a large number of audiences, making people condemn the cruel rule of Saddam's regime and lament the tragic experience of the protagonist, while not only being shocked by this true story that happened in Iraq.
In real life, Latif Yahya shares almost everything with Uday, but there is one thing that Uday never allows him to touch, and he almost died because of it, but because of this, he saw Uday's true face and finally managed to escape Uday's control.
This film shows us the strength of courage, perseverance, and survival, and it is a work that will never be forgotten.
The Baghdad Boys' School, Iraq's top aristocratic school, in which Latif Yahya spent his teenage years. Although he came from a famous family, his father did not want him to rely too much on the family relationship, but valued his studies from an early age, hoping that he could strive for success through his own efforts.
On his first day at school, Yahya heard his classmates talking about him, saying that he looked like a person. That person is Saddam's eldest son, Uday, who is the king and hegemon in the school and acts recklessly, but Yahya can't get used to his style and respects him.
Although Uday offered to let Yahya follow him, Yahya did not want to rely on others, but chose to fight on his own.
Over time, Yahya was admitted to the prestigious University of Baghdad, and Uday returned to his hometown to take over his father's job. In 1986, Yahya successfully completed his studies at the University of Baghdad with a bachelor's degree in law.
At that time, it was the Iran-Iraq war, and Iraq's human resources were extremely strained. In response to the war, Saddam Hussein** promulgated a law stipulating that college students should first participate in military training after graduation.
Yahya was no exception, as soon as he graduated, he was selected into the special forces and sent to the front line in Iran. Yahya on the battlefield was nimble-minded and fearless, and was promoted to captain in less than a year.
However, while he was fighting bloodily, his fate took a turn. One day in 1987, a group of men in military uniforms approached him with orders from their superiors, telling him to go on a classified mission, and then he was taken to a mysterious palace.
Nervously, he walked into the deepest room of the palace, only to find Uday waiting for him there.
Uday's enthusiasm for Yahya was unexpected, and the two talked about the old days of the Baghdad boys' school and asked Yahya about his family with concern. When Yahya was confused about Uday's motives, Uday suddenly made a request that surprised him: whether he wanted to be Saddam's son.
Yahya thought that Uday had seized his handle and wanted to trouble him, so he hurriedly replied: "Every Iraqi is the son of Saddam Hussein." Uday laughed, but he quickly explained that he just wanted Yahya to be his stand-in.
Yahya was completely stunned when he heard this, as if he had been struck by lightning.
Uday is a very rich and noble man, but Yahya does not want to be a shadow without self. However, Yahya naively thought that Uday would grant him a free choice and promised not to trouble him.
As a result, before he could leave the palace, he was knocked unconscious. When he woke up, he found himself locked in a red cell, physically tortured, but he never wavered.
However, when Uday threatens to ** his sister and kill all his family, Yahya can only give in and agree to Uday's ridiculous and unreasonable demands.
After going through hardships and dangers, Yahya eventually became a stand-in for the tyrant Uday. As Saddam's eldest son, Uday is well-known, and his words and deeds are known to the world.
However, it is not easy to become his stand-in. According to the assessment of the personal doctor of the Saddam family, the resemblance between Yahya and Uday has reached an astonishing 90%, but Uday is not satisfied with this and still forces Yahya to undergo further plastic surgery.
The plastic surgeon enlarged Yahya's eyes, replaced his front teeth, and even reproduced the marks and scars on Uday's face. After some careful retouching, Yahya's appearance is almost identical to Uday's, but more importantly, their demeanor.
Yahya made great efforts to become Uday. He put on sunglasses and a gold necklace, learned to smoke, drink and dance, imitate Uday's every move day and night, and even learned the same subtle gestures as Uday getting in and out of the car, lighting a cigar, and raising a glass to drink.
His talent allowed him to imitate as much as he could, but he was never able to imitate Uday's rough treatment of others. In the end, Uday forced Yahya to do bad things to him, including torture and killing.
Although this allowed Yahya to learn Uday's rough demeanor, it also caused a great mental stimulation to him. After a period of intense training, Yahya finally succeeded in imitating every detail of Uday.
Yahya dreamed of becoming a stand-in for Uday, but he did not get Saddam's consent. If he is not recognized, he may lose his life. Uday was outraged by this, but under his bitter pleas, Saddam agreed to see Yahya the seer.
After a series of rigorous inspections, Yahya came to Saddam. Unexpectedly, Saddam Hussein was very happy when he saw Yahya, and his previous anger disappeared, and he said excitedly: "Allah has given me two sons, and now you are my third son." ”
Yahya became Uday's stand-in, and he would never be Saddam's third son, but he was an important part of Uday's plan. In a soccer match, Yahya successfully replaced Uday, and no one noticed anything out of the ordinary, and Uday's plan was a success.
Since then, Uday has handed over all public activities to Yahya, and he has retreated into the background. Although Yahya never killed anyone, his presence undoubtedly added a lot of influence to Uday's plans.
Attending an event for Uday is not an easy task, but it carries great risks. Uday's crimes in Iraq are so great that the number of people who want him dead is innumerable. After Yahya succeeded Uday, the killers mistakenly thought he was Uday and pointed the finger at him.
Over the course of four years, Yahya was assassinated eleven times, but each time he survived. In addition to attending events, Uday also asked Yahya to participate in some unknown things.
For example, when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, Saddam Hussein, in order to boost morale, publicly announced that he would let Uday join the army. But Uday is rampant and domineering on weekdays, but he is timid and afraid at critical moments, and refuses to go to the battlefield in life or death.
In desperation, Saddam Hussein could only send Yahya to replace Uday.
Yahya is the nephew of Saddam Hussein, a former Iraqi ruler who participated in military operations against Kuwait under the command of Uday Hussein. Yahya reportedly followed Uday to loot local wealth after the capture of Kuwait, and he helped Uday steal at least 1$2.5 billion in property.
However, after the matter was revealed, Yahya had to make a public confession on Iraqi state television, admitting that he had used his similar appearance to Uday for personal gain. Although Yahya assisted Uday in committing many crimes when he was forced to do so, he always adhered to one principle, which was not to kill.
He defended this very resolutely with his life. In one incident, Uday ** won a "Miss Baghdad" beauty pageant, and when the girl's father learned about it, he sued everywhere, and finally even alarmed Saddam.
Furious at this, Uday tied the father to his home and forced Yahya to kill him. Faced with this situation, Yahya couldn't bear it anymore, he grabbed a knife and committed suicide by cutting his wrists in front of Uday.
Uday was taken aback when he saw this, and he quickly sent someone to send Yahya to the hospital, and never forced him to kill again. Although Yahya's life was saved, the principle of non-killing that he adhered to also gave us a deeper understanding of him.
Yahya lived an enviable life of luxury, driving luxury cars, wearing famous brands, drinking famous wines, smoking high-end cigars, and going out to various high-end places. All this was generously provided by his friend Uday, except for the women he cherished the most.
Uday is a moody man who sometimes abuses Yahya for no reason, but he also has a human side. When he wasn't crazy, he cared a lot about Yahya.
Every time he traveled to Europe, he would buy two copies of what he liked, one for himself and one for Yahya. He told Yahya that he could share all his wealth, but never touch his woman.
Although this way of life is eye-catching, Yahya has become accustomed to it and has become obsessed with it.
A sudden change made him deeply appreciate the illusion of power. Uday had a particularly beloved lover named Serab, who he had forcibly taken from the people.
On the surface, she bowed down to Uday, but in fact she hated Uday to the core. Alone, she has an emotional entanglement with Yahya, who is in the same situation as her.
Yahya was both pitiful and loving to Serab, and soon forgot Uday's warnings and secretly became friendly with Serab. But what they didn't expect was that they were webcamed by Uday at the place where they had a tryst**.
After their secret, Uday was furious, and he not only imprisoned Yahya, but also tortured him and threatened to kill him. However, Uday's dependence on Yahya grew, and after 21 days of torture, he finally released Yahya.
In order to convince Yahya to remain allegiant, Uday also presented him with a Mercedes as an apology.
Yahya lives in the shadow of Uday, who knows he can't surpass him. Although everything he has, it can be lost because of Uday's words. So, Yahya decided to flee from this shadow.
In 1991, the Gulf War broke out, and the Iraqi army was exhausted and overwhelmed. Yahya saw this opportunity and prepared to flee Iraq. However, as soon as he got off the elevator, he was confronted by Uday's strict precautions.
Uday showed no mercy and shot Yahya in the chest, and he immediately fell unconscious. Then Uday sent men to throw him into the wilderness. Despite the destruction of Yahya's plans for escape, he did not give up.
He realized that only by escaping from this shadow could he be truly liberated.
Yahya's life is full of events and challenges, he struggles with the brink of life and death, and finally manages to escape to England with the help of his friends. However, Uday did not let him go because of this, and kept sending people to hunt him down, so that he had to hide incognito and hide.
It wasn't until 2003 that Yahya learned on the TV news that Uday had been killed by Uday, and he was both angry and excited. Angry that Uday was killed like this was too cheap for him, and excited that he could get rid of Uday's shadow and start living again.
However, Uday's death did not end his mental devastation on Yahya, his depression became more severe, he needed to rely on a large amount of drugs every day to maintain it, and he could not sleep at night, because closing his eyes was those horrific scenes created by Uday.
Although Yahya's life has changed, he has lost so much that he can no longer regain the life that was taken away by Uday.
Yahya's story was discovered by chance by Australian journalist Carl Wendell, one of the few Western journalists who had interviewed Saddam Hussein and had an in-depth study of Iraq.
He wrote Yahya's experience into a book called "The Devil's Substitute", which became a global hit as soon as it was released. Soon after, Lionsgate adapted it into a movie, which once again caused a lot of discussion.
Although Yahya's plight is sympathetic, the veracity of the story is also questioned. For example, Uday's butler, Haitam Amaya, claimed that he had worked beside Uday for many years and had never met Yahya.
Similarly, Saddam's plastic surgeon said he had never had plastic surgery for Yahya.
As Iraq expert Toby Dodge has put it, the story of the Baath regime in Iraq is often blurred between fact and fiction, and the period has always been shrouded in mystery.
And Yahya's experience, like many other bizarre and tragic stories of that period, is true or false only for him. Perhaps Yahya's story is fictional, but it is also a true fiction that reflects the reality of that period.