Another unmissable collaboration from exiled-Egyptian writer/director Tarik Saleh and frequent lead Fares Fares. Third of his Egyptian Trilogy*, this one an Actor’s Tale in three parts: Comic Vanity, Ironic Seduction, Horrified Political Pawn. It begins when iconic film star Fares gets an offer he can’t refuse to portray (in the best possible light) the rise to power of dictatorial Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. Totally wrong physically (tall, lean, hawk-like face), but he’s not in a career position to say no. He’s also too proud of his reputation to phone it in, especially when being coddled with encouragement & favors by El-Sisi’s military yes-men hovering about. Inducement or threat? Soon, he’s taking advantage of perks, asking favors for friends, family and assorted lovers old & new. A discreet phone-call from these strangely obsequious uniformed men all that’s needed to ‘fix’ all sorts of things. A living get out of jail free card. Seductive indeed. And if this section feels a bit less original, you’ve likely fallen for Saleh’s setup; a fake-out for a leading man who doesn’t know he’s in way over his head on a three-sided political power struggle. Or which side he’s on, or supposed to be on, to help his rebellious son, resentful ex-wife, recent lover or reckless current lover all in possible danger of arrest or worse. Saleh juggling characters and narrative lines of action without confusion for us nor easy choices, let alone answers, for our likeable protagonist.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: *THE HILTON INCIDENT/’17 followed by THE CAIRO CONSPIRACY/’19 (not yet seen here). https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-nile-hilton-incident-2017.html
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