The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein  (2001)

Theatrical Release Information:
The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein

This downbeat three-part drama tells a trio of stories that focus on different aspects of America's reaction to the war in the Persian Gulf. Fernanda Hussein (Thia Gonzales) is a Hispanic woman whose husband abandoned her and their children and returned to Egypt, where he was born. With the war in the Gulf at its height, Fernanda is subjected to a daily barrage of racist insults due to the fact that, through marriage, she shares her last name with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and when her children disappear under mysterious circumstances, Fernanda is left with nowhere to turn and few ways to express her sorrow. In the second chapter, Carlos (Robert Perrea) is a soldier who returns home as a hero after serving in the Middle East. But after spending months cleaning up the bloody damage American air strikes inflicted upon the people of Kuwait, Carlos has a hard time feeling heroic about the aftermath of the war. And finally, tensions mount among the members of a wealthy New Mexico family, as teenage Raphael (Dustin Scott) speaks out against the war, to the great consternation of his parents and siblings. Incidentally, Robert Perrea, who plays a returning Gulf War veteran in the second segment, himself served in the Gulf War as a Marine. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide