REVIEW - THE SQUARE

The people of Egypt know what they don't want, but they know not what they do want. What they have had is relative prosperity for an African nation, yet the kind of social and democratic austerity one expects from a Middle Eastern nation. These people have now brought upon themselves, and most intentionally, instability, in pursuit of a level of freedom and fairness not that they have witnessed elsewhere in the world, but that they know, as human beings, they are entitled to. Their pursuit has turned into a battle, one which has, in the eyes of an optimist, taken down two regimes and counting, or in the eyes of a pessimist, replaced bad for worse and again at the seat of the Egyptian government. This battle continues today, which makes Jehane Noujaim's searing documentary even more pointed and poignant. With stunning footage captured from the heart of the action, both physical and political, her account of the uprising whose international infamy inspired several others is deeply, directly powerful. It has the clarity of staged recreation, but with the additional, crucial sting of reality. Noujaim emerges as a master of instilling appropriate atmosphere with accuracy and fortitude, yet sensitivity, and her editing team superbly condense their material into a succinct, satisfying story that also does not betray the essence of its subject, nor play too loosely with the timeframe. Profiled here is a number of significant figures in the revolution, though their presentation is handled with admirable subtlety - a deference to the fact that it is these people's cause, rather than these people themselves, that is of importance here. Their cause is depicted as the only honest, viable, just cause available to Egypt, and the sneering military and corrupt (and entirely-male-supported - it would appear) Muslim Brotherhood are depicted as despicable villains. Noujaim doesn't attempt to argue with this, since she know this to be as true as all else her cameras so sensationally capture in this remarkable film. The people of Egypt may know not what they do want, but if the Muslim Brotherhood is what they don't want, then there's no argument to be made.