Clash

This is a very surprising film, everything about it is thought provoking, and the jeopardy of being locked in a police van is terrifying. But it's not a jolly tale.

Set in Egypt during the 2013 counter-revolution that saw the military overthrow of Mohamed Morsi, Clash is a ground-level view of the political and social conflicts that rocked the country. Protestors, counter-protestors, reporters and bystanders are rounded up and thrown in the same van. Police drive them around town, avoiding riots and trying to find a prison to deposit them. Pro-Morsi Moslem Brotherhood members are thrown in with pro-military secularists and an Egyptian-American reporter. Men, women and children share the tiny, hot box with no water or toilet.The entire film was shot in back of an Egyptian police van, giving viewers the same feeling of isolation and claustrophobia the prisoners feel. All we can see of the larger struggle outside is glimpses through the barred windows or when the door occasionally opens.There's no real ending or resolution (much like life) and we are left to draw our own conclusions.Powerful film about human nature in general, not just a story of Egypt.

“Clash” is set in Cairo in the aftermath of the 2013 overthrow of Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood movement. People have taken to the streets to protest the army’s forceful ouster of Morsi. The film portrays individuals of all beliefs caught in the crossfire, who are brought into a van whether protesting the army, the Muslim Brotherhood, or the widespread chaos itself. As the heat of the day turns the van into an oven, those in the van quarrel and brawl with one another and plead with their unsympathetic captors for water.Director Mohamed Diab presents a harrowing account of a country and citizenry in turmoil as factions vie for control of the government. Diab focuses on a fairly small group rounded up and tossed into the van. Politically diverse, their opinions differ about the future of the country. One man is homeless, but most are making it with varying degrees of success. Some want an Islamic state, others are organized to protest the Muslim Brotherhood, and others simply want to live their lives in a country that allows them to do so. The back of the truck serves as a microcosm of the political divide of the time. The single desire binding them together is getting out of the truck.As violence escalates outside the truck and snipers target the police, director Diab keeps his focus on the van’s inhabitants until it comes to represent humanity. Outside are the destructive political forces that had divided them. The flaw with the film is its failure to get into the heads of any of its characters. They are portrayed more as metaphors than individuals with stories of their own. “Clash” is well made and does deliver in the thrill department, but if it offered greater insight into the characters, it would be far more effective.Bonus materials on the unrated widescreen DVD release include a making-of documentary and a trailer. The film is in Arabic, with optional English subtitles.

One of the best Egyptian movies of all time