Clash (15)
Directed by Mohamed Diab
Starring Nelly Karim, Hani Adel, El Sebaii Mohamed, Ahmed Abdelhamid Hefny, Mahmoud Fares, Waleed Abdel Ghany. In Arabic with subtitles. 97 mins. Out on Blu-ray and DVD from Arrow films.
Clash is a film set inside the back of a van; an Egyptian police van during a day of pro and anti protests and riots, after the military had overthrown the democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood government in 2013. It's one of those concepts that will either work brilliantly or flounder ridiculously, and whichever it is, it won't leave you wondering for long. Diab's film works brilliantly: indeed it already looks secure alike one of the films of the year.
Though technically a single location drama it doesn't feel like a small or contained film. By the standards of these films it is an epic with a cast of hundreds. For a start the Egyptian police really pack them in. Beginning with an American journalist and his cameraman they go around the city picking up over twenty people from either side, pro-army protestors and Muslim Brotherhood supporters, men, women and children, for offences such as throwing stones, talking back and not being liked the look of. It's packed and sweaty and tense, but they have it better than the people slung in the back of the other police vans we see, where it's standing room only with up to fifty people crammed in.
Diab has decided to sacrifice claustrophobia for the opportunity to have a unique viewpoint of the revolution. The gathered prisoners are taken on a slow and ponderous journey through a city in turmoil. They pass through violent protests and virtual war zones but at other points the city seems normal and everyday; there is a droll moment when the prisoners look out at a commuter bus where the passengers are packed in tighter than them. Their vantage point is intriguing – they are both at a remove from the events swirling around them, yet also also perilously vulnerable, as their rickety police van offer little protection form flying bullets.
Having thrown this mixture of humanity together in a single place, dramatic tradition demands that the two sides should try to find ways to get along, find common ground. And the narrative has these Twenty Odd Desperate Prisoners move towards this, but what strikes you is how is how wide the division is. (History, should that be an ongoing concern, will surely mark this decade's defining feature as its unfailing ability to contrive a 52/48 split in any country.) The Muslim Brotherhood are like a Maoist cell, very hysterical and very concerned with strict discipline and lines of control. The pro government supporters seem entirely Westernised. The film most poignant moment is when they all remember the thrill of the first revolution when they all came together to topple Mobarek and then there is a sudden silence as they reflect how quickly it all came apart.
Diab's staging is flawless, and this is one of those rare occasions when the good review feels like a statement of objective fact. What the film expresses most strongly is the sense of helplessness you have when your freedom is taken away, and the random powerlessness of life in a police state. For decades the movies have been trying to mentally prepare me for life in a post apocalyptic wasteland, and I'm grateful for this film's attempt to ready me for the interim stage.
Extras.
Clash is one of those few films where you actually want to learn much more about its context and background. This disc offers up a lenghty (45 minutes) interview with director Diab from last year's London Film Festival and a briefer (20 minutes) Making Of featurette.
Directed by Mohamed Diab
Starring Nelly Karim, Hani Adel, El Sebaii Mohamed, Ahmed Abdelhamid Hefny, Mahmoud Fares, Waleed Abdel Ghany. In Arabic with subtitles. 97 mins. Out on Blu-ray and DVD from Arrow films.
Clash is a film set inside the back of a van; an Egyptian police van during a day of pro and anti protests and riots, after the military had overthrown the democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood government in 2013. It's one of those concepts that will either work brilliantly or flounder ridiculously, and whichever it is, it won't leave you wondering for long. Diab's film works brilliantly: indeed it already looks secure alike one of the films of the year.
Though technically a single location drama it doesn't feel like a small or contained film. By the standards of these films it is an epic with a cast of hundreds. For a start the Egyptian police really pack them in. Beginning with an American journalist and his cameraman they go around the city picking up over twenty people from either side, pro-army protestors and Muslim Brotherhood supporters, men, women and children, for offences such as throwing stones, talking back and not being liked the look of. It's packed and sweaty and tense, but they have it better than the people slung in the back of the other police vans we see, where it's standing room only with up to fifty people crammed in.
Diab has decided to sacrifice claustrophobia for the opportunity to have a unique viewpoint of the revolution. The gathered prisoners are taken on a slow and ponderous journey through a city in turmoil. They pass through violent protests and virtual war zones but at other points the city seems normal and everyday; there is a droll moment when the prisoners look out at a commuter bus where the passengers are packed in tighter than them. Their vantage point is intriguing – they are both at a remove from the events swirling around them, yet also also perilously vulnerable, as their rickety police van offer little protection form flying bullets.
Having thrown this mixture of humanity together in a single place, dramatic tradition demands that the two sides should try to find ways to get along, find common ground. And the narrative has these Twenty Odd Desperate Prisoners move towards this, but what strikes you is how is how wide the division is. (History, should that be an ongoing concern, will surely mark this decade's defining feature as its unfailing ability to contrive a 52/48 split in any country.) The Muslim Brotherhood are like a Maoist cell, very hysterical and very concerned with strict discipline and lines of control. The pro government supporters seem entirely Westernised. The film most poignant moment is when they all remember the thrill of the first revolution when they all came together to topple Mobarek and then there is a sudden silence as they reflect how quickly it all came apart.
Diab's staging is flawless, and this is one of those rare occasions when the good review feels like a statement of objective fact. What the film expresses most strongly is the sense of helplessness you have when your freedom is taken away, and the random powerlessness of life in a police state. For decades the movies have been trying to mentally prepare me for life in a post apocalyptic wasteland, and I'm grateful for this film's attempt to ready me for the interim stage.
Extras.
Clash is one of those few films where you actually want to learn much more about its context and background. This disc offers up a lenghty (45 minutes) interview with director Diab from last year's London Film Festival and a briefer (20 minutes) Making Of featurette.
