An Egyptian movie star is forced to play the lead role in a propagandised biopic of the nation's president.
Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Tarik Saleh
Starring: Fares Fares, Lyna Khoudri, Amr Waked, Zineb Triki, Cherien Dabis
Filmmakers usually wait for a political leader to vacate their office before documenting their failings. All the President's Men arrived two years after Nixon's resignation. Oliver Stone's W was released just as Dubya was clearing out his desk in the Oval office. Swedish-Egyptian writer/director Tarik Saleh isn't giving Egypt's president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi any such grace period. Eagles of the Republic puts the boot into the current Egyptian leader, widely considered a dictator who shows no signs of leaving his post any time soon.
Saleh was booted out of Egypt by the regime prior to making his 2017 thriller The Nile Hilton Incident. He has reteamed with that film's leading man, Fares Fares, for a unique political thriller that mocks el-Sisi's vanity. Of course, aside from some sneaky street shots, it was filmed outside Egypt, with Istanbul standing in for Cairo.
Fares plays George Fahmy, a popular Egyptian actor nicknamed "The Pharoah of the Screen." Fahmy lives a privileged life of comfort, complete with a penthouse apartment and a trophy girlfriend (Lyna Khoudri) half his age. A Coptic Christian in a majority Muslim nation, he purposely steers clear of politics. But politics refuses to steer clear of Fahmy, who is approached by his government to star in a puff piece biopic of the serving president. Fahmy initially turns down the offer until he is subjected to not so veiled threats against his teenage son, who lives with his ex-wife.
What makes Fahmy such a compelling protagonist for a political thriller is his lack of political principles. He turns down the role at first not because he doesn't want to be involved in government propaganda, but because he views propaganda as a crass form of art that's beneath him. The one thing Fahmy truly cares about is putting on a good performance, which puts him in the crosshairs of Mansour (Amr Waked), the mustachioed thug in charge of ensuring he sticks to the official script. Fahmy wants to portray el-Sisi accurately, even initially donning transformative make-up, but el-Sisi doesn't want to be portrayed as himself, but rather as his nation's favourite movie star. It's a bit like Trump coercing Tom Cruise into playing him in a biopic without donning a fat suit.
Saleh's film begins as a backstage comedy, its scenario reminiscent of Bananas-era Woody Allen (there is a knockout piece of cringe comedy involving Fahmy taking a little blue pill at what turns out to be the worst possible time). Despite the blatant threats against him, Fahmy is oblivious to the level of danger he's really in. He naively believes that his status as an Egyptian superstar gives him protection. He even takes the risk of embarking on an affair with Suzanne (Zineb Triki), the beautiful wife of the minister of defence. The terrifying Mansour soon makes it clear that this isn't the case, with blatant threats and sinister hints that Fahmy is under constant surveillance. Things get even more complicated for Fahmy when he finds himself a pawn in a planned counter-coup.
The film morphs into a political thriller in an impressively organic manner, Saleh managing the tonal shift in a way that never draws attention to itself. We begin the movie laughing at Fahmy and end it fearing for his life. If Egypt's Tom Cruise can be easily disposed of by his regime, how paranoid must the average Egyptian be?
Eagles of the Republic is in UK/ROI cinemas from May 22nd.
