The Dictator 2012 British-American comedy film

The Dictator is a 2012 British-American comedy film co-written by and starring Sacha Baron Cohen as his fourth feature film in a leading role. The film is directed by Larry Charles, who previously directed Baron Cohen'smockumentaries Borat and Brüno. Baron Cohen, in the role of Admiral General Aladeen, the dictator of the fictional Republic of Wadiya visiting the United States, stars alongside Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley, Jason Mantzoukas, and an uncredited appearance by John C. Reilly.

Producers Jeff Schaffer and David Mandel said that Baron Cohen's character was inspired by dictators Kim Jong-il, Idi Amin, Muammar Gaddafi, Mobutu Sese Seko and Saparmurat Niyazov.

For years, the Republic of Wadiya (located in the Horn of Africa, supplanting the actual nation of Eritrea) has been ruled by Admiral General Haffaz Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen), a childish, tyrannical, sexist, anti-western, andantisemitic despot who surrounds himself with female bodyguards, sponsorsal-Qaeda (specially giving shelter to Osama Bin Laden after "they killed his double one year ago") and is working on developing nuclear weapons to attack Israel. He also refused to sell Wadiya's oil fields, a promise he made to his father on his deathbed. After the United Nations Security Council resolves to intervene militarily, Aladeen travels to the UN Headquarters in New York to address the council.

Shortly after arriving, Aladeen is kidnapped by Clayton (John C. Reilly), a hitman hired by his treacherous uncle Tamir (Ben Kingsley), whom Aladeen's father passed over as successor in favor of his son. Tamir then replaces Aladeen with a dimwitted political decoy named Efawadh (Baron Cohen), whom he intends to manipulate into signing a document nominallydemocratizing Wadiya while opening the country's oil fields to Chinese and other foreign vested interests. Aladeen escapes after Clayton accidentally kills himself in a botched torture attempt; when his corpse is discovered Tamir thinks Aladeen has been killed. However, Aladeen is practically unrecognizable as Clayton shaved off his trademark long beard prior to his death.

Wandering through New York, Aladeen encounters Zoey (Anna Faris), an activist who offers him a job at her alternative lifestyle co-op. Aladeen refuses the offer and encounters "Nuclear" Nadal (Jason Mantzoukas), the former chief of Wadiya's nuclear weapons program, whom Aladeen thought he had previously executed over an argument about the warhead's shape. Aladeen follows him to New York's "Little Wadiya" which is populated by refugees from his country, and meets him in Death to Aladeen Restaurant, run by and visited by numerous people whom Aladeen had personally ordered executed. Nadal saves Aladeen from nearly being recognized by angry refugees and reveals that rebels infiltrated the secret police, and all the condemned were sent into exile instead of being executed. Nadal agrees to help Aladeen thwart Tamir's plot and regain his position as 'rightful' dictator, on condition that Aladeen makes him head of Wadiya's WMD program again. Aladeen agrees and accepts Zoey's job offer, as she is catering at the hotel where the signing is to occur. Aladeen grows closer to Zoey after she refuses his sexual advances and teaches him how to masturbate, and eventually falls in love with her after seeing her angry. Turning around Zoey's struggling business, Aladeen begins imposing strict schedules on everyone, forming a personality 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 be honest with her and reveal his true self; she cannot love a man who was so brutal to his own people. After acquiring a new beard taken from a corpse, Aladeen ziplines into the hotel and tells Efawadh he has recovered (his double being fooled into thinking the Supreme Leader was ill). At the signing ceremony, he tears up Tamir's document in front of the UN delegation, and holds an impassioned speech praising the virtues of dictatorship, drawing unintended parallels to current issues in the US. However, upon seeing Zoey in the room, he declares his love for her and, knowing Zoey's strongly held views, vows to democratize his country and open up Wadiya's oil fields for business, but in a way where the general populace will benefit. Angry with Aladeen staying in power, Tamir attempts to assassinate him but Efawadh jumps in front of the bullet and survives, as it is his job "to be shot in the head". Tamir, afterwards, is arrested.

A year later, Wadiya holds its first democratic elections, although they are rigged in favor of Aladeen (who has now added the titles President Prime Minister to his previous Admiral General). Afterwards, he marries Zoey, but is shocked when shecrushes a glass and reveals herself to be Jewish; throughout the film he was shown vowing to "destroy Israel". Scenes during the credits show Aladeen's convoy, now consisting of eco-friendly cars, visiting a reinstated Nadal, and later Zoey revealing in a television 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".

Unrated versionThe unrated cut of The Dictator runs an additional 15 minutes from its 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. Another added scene is Mr. Ogden, the manager of the Lancaster Hotel, talking to Zoey at The Collective and canceling the catering contract because of Aladeen.

CastSacha Baron Cohen as Admiral General Aladeen/Alison Burgers[6] and his mentally impaired double Efawadh
Anna Faris as Zoey
Ben Kingsley as Tamir, Aladeen's uncle
Jason Mantzoukas as "Nuclear" Nadal
John C. Reilly (uncredited) as Clayton
Bobby Lee as Mr. Lao
Sayed Badreya as Omar
Adeel Akhtar as Maroush
Fred Armisen as the Death to Aladeen Restaurant waiter
Edward Norton (uncredited) as himself
Megan Fox as herself
Susan Sykes as Etra
Chris Elliott as Mr. Ogden
Garry Shandling (uncredited) as health inspector
Chris Parnell as news anchor
Aasif Mandvi as Doctor
Rizwan Manji as Patient
Horatio Sanz as Aide on Balcony
Fred Melamed as Head Nuclear Scientist
Joey Slotnick as Homeless Man
Jessica St. Clair as Denise
Anna Katarina as Angela Merkel
Kevin Corrigan as Slade
Mitchell Green as Joteph
Jenny Saldana as Hannah

Production

Paramount Pictures described the film as "the heroic story of a North African dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed." Paramount said the film was inspired by the novel Zabibah and the King by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, though The New York Times later reported it is not an adaptation. Kristen Wiig and Gillian Jacobs had been considered for the role that Anna Faris eventually played and whichVariety said "calls for strong improvisational skills". Baron Cohen, who also plays Efawadh in the film, based his performance primarily on Libya's Muammar Gaddafi.The film is dedicated to Kim Jong-il.

Morocco had been considered as a filming location. Location shooting took place at the Plaza de España in Seville and on the island of Fuerteventura, Spain,and in New York City from June to August 2011. Baron Cohen said the United 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-General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman commented by saying only, "Sacha Baron Cohen has a wonderful sense of humor." The United Nations shots were at a soundstage at Grumman Studios in Bethpage, New York.