When, in 2013, President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt was overthrown in a military coup, members of his Muslim Brotherhood took to the streets in protest. So did those supporting the military's actions. 'Clash' examines what happens when representatives of those two opposing factions are thrown together in the close confines of a police van while the protests rage around them.
The film opens with two journalists (one a dual Egyptian/American) being arrested. Their bickering about journalistic responsibility is interrupted when a group of anti-Morsi protesters, including a father and young son, are also thrown in the van (joined minutes later by the boy's mother, who refuses to leave him). Things are just settling down when a group of Brotherhood supporters (including an aged father and his teenaged daughter) are also arrested. For a time a police officer is also locked in the van. As these diametrically-opposed groups mingle, they exercise their rivalries, but also find common ground - however, this is no feel-good film: the common ground is repeatedly trampled on by political differences, even as small, individual acts of human kindness occur (such as a Brotherhood member showing an anti-Morsi diabetic how to urinate in a bottle - the only toilet the incarcerated group have).
In a film with dozens of male characters and only two female, it is inevitable that the women's performances stand out. But I think even in a film with a more equal gender balance Nelly Karim, gifted with a role as the firebrand mother who at times almost assumes control of the group, would be noticeable as she swings from exasperation (her husband getting their son arrested), to rage (the police not releasing the boy), to compassion (attempting to treat the head wound of a Brotherhood member even though he refuses to let her touch him).
Writers Khaled & Mohamed Diab (the latter also directed) have been careful to show all sides at fault, and all sides as having redeeming qualities: even individual police officers are shown as compassionate and heroic. This is important, as otherwise it would be too easy for the viewer to feel he is being drip-fed propaganda. As it is - and despite a jarring ending when what has been a rather shouty film suddenly loses all dialogue as music covers the final scene - we have a dramatic film with interesting characters and a real sense of danger. I very much hope this gets a wider release beyond the festival circuit (I saw it at the 2016 London Film Festival).
The film opens with two journalists (one a dual Egyptian/American) being arrested. Their bickering about journalistic responsibility is interrupted when a group of anti-Morsi protesters, including a father and young son, are also thrown in the van (joined minutes later by the boy's mother, who refuses to leave him). Things are just settling down when a group of Brotherhood supporters (including an aged father and his teenaged daughter) are also arrested. For a time a police officer is also locked in the van. As these diametrically-opposed groups mingle, they exercise their rivalries, but also find common ground - however, this is no feel-good film: the common ground is repeatedly trampled on by political differences, even as small, individual acts of human kindness occur (such as a Brotherhood member showing an anti-Morsi diabetic how to urinate in a bottle - the only toilet the incarcerated group have).
In a film with dozens of male characters and only two female, it is inevitable that the women's performances stand out. But I think even in a film with a more equal gender balance Nelly Karim, gifted with a role as the firebrand mother who at times almost assumes control of the group, would be noticeable as she swings from exasperation (her husband getting their son arrested), to rage (the police not releasing the boy), to compassion (attempting to treat the head wound of a Brotherhood member even though he refuses to let her touch him).
Writers Khaled & Mohamed Diab (the latter also directed) have been careful to show all sides at fault, and all sides as having redeeming qualities: even individual police officers are shown as compassionate and heroic. This is important, as otherwise it would be too easy for the viewer to feel he is being drip-fed propaganda. As it is - and despite a jarring ending when what has been a rather shouty film suddenly loses all dialogue as music covers the final scene - we have a dramatic film with interesting characters and a real sense of danger. I very much hope this gets a wider release beyond the festival circuit (I saw it at the 2016 London Film Festival).