Onlinewsma
Absolutely Brilliant!
AnhartLinkin
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
KnotStronger
This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
jdesando
Himself - Revolutionary: "We're not looking for a leader as much as we're looking for a conscience . . . . If we are able to create this conscience within the society, we'll be able to find a good president."And so a revolution goes—not a coherent plan but a passion for democratic equality and justice. The Square squarely hits the historical details about the people's revolution in Egypt in Cairo's Tahrir Square from 2011-2013.As the Egyptian proletariat protest and dethrone President Hosni Mubarak, remove the military, and install Mohamed Morsi, nothing is as they wanted it. Each time, even now, produces another repressive regime while the people hope for freedom.Acclaimed director Jehane Noujaim (Sundance award for Startup.com) consistently shows the protesters' point of view, in a remarkably consistent tone that is neither preachy nor emotionally removed. She reveals the frustration of the revolutionaries, who willingly give their lives for their ideals but still end up imprisoned by the ruling elite, whom the revolutionaries were instrumental in installing.Noujaim does not make a judgment; rather she shows the complexities of the revolutionaries' motives and strategies without predicting the future. The doc puts in perspective the four major components: Muslim Brotherhood, ruling parties, military, and commoners, and emphasizing the irony of this review's opening quote. While seeking a conscience, Egyptians seem to miss the importance of a charismatic leader (Che Guevera? Abraham Lincoln? MLK? See above quote).Their quest for "conscience" exposes the weakness of the doc as well: Missing a compelling protagonist in a revolution and a documentary leads to a tedious repetition of events without the umbrella of a defining leader with an incendiary philosophy. But that imperfection leads to a realistic depiction of revolution, whose ideals Westerners can easily identify with:Himself - Revolutionary: "The leaders play on top. The people pay the price for everything. The people always pay the price."
gavin6942
A group of Egyptian revolutionaries battle leaders and regimes, risking their lives to build a new society of conscience.The Chicago Tribune described this film as "A compelling inside look at the cascading series of revolutions and counterrevolutions that have shaken Egypt since the beginning of 2011." Further, the Washington Post called it "elegantly shot and structured, but infused with rough, spontaneous energy; global in its consciousness but intimate in its approach; carefully pitched but emotionally wrenching; deeply troubling but ultimately exhilarating." I am not going to disagree with either of those assessments. The film is important and impressive for how it mixes the local and the international. No film up for an Oscar this year has more importance than this one, as it shows the spark that triggered the Arab Spring. But it also gets to the details, showing the factionalism, and mixed opinion on the Muslim Brotherhood and military.Foreign affairs are challenging for Americans, and it is easy to lump Egyptians into one category in our minds. We may each have a different label, but few of us really know what life in Egypt is like. This film takes us there, presenting a political process and democracy that is just as vibrant -- in some ways more so -- than in the United States.Aside from the film itself, there is also the interesting distinction that this is the first Oscar nominee distributed by Netflix, as well as the first funded by Kickstarter. Neither of these things should have a bearing on the way we (or awards shows) see the content, but it offers a message that the way films are financed and distributed is changing rapidly. Thanks to streaming internet, more people can see this film today (February 2014) than they ever could before.Because of its global importance, this film has every right to the Oscar. And if winning means even more people see it, I hope that happens. But it will be an uphill battle, as "Act of Killing" seems to be the front runner. Regardless, any film that lets Americans see the rest of world as it sees itself is well worth spreading.
emilyelizabeth1283
I'd followed the stories in the news and used the timelines and animations on the New York Times website to put events in order and try to understand what was happening in Egypt, but documentary film making in the last several years has presented itself as an invaluable opportunity for human connection where newsprint, blogging and television news broadcasts fall short. These are the faces of the people involved with the revolutionary movement in Egypt. The faces that you can watch, second by second, as the emotion in their faces evolve from shock, to understanding, to rage, to determination. In place of a pretty girl whose makeup and hair has just been done, reading off of a sheet of paper, perhaps tripping over the pronunciation of some words, you have Ahmed, Magdy, Khalid, Dina, and Ramy running or standing resolute in Tahrir Square as first Mubarek, then the military regime, then Muslim Brotherhood supporters try to crush, depress, or manipulate the cause of the Egyptian people gathered there.It is such a vital, clarifying experience to put faces to the numbers, names, and body count reports and to see the people of Egypt as their struggle was documented, to understand that their world does not disappear after the two hour film is finished and the credits roll. That world is not far away. It is here. We are all living here. It is inaccurate to think of a group of individuals in a movement, or a political or religious group and negate the fact that the individual precedes the group as an existence. Even in a group or country that staunchly identifies itself as a group and not as individuals. Each conscious mind is brought up being taught this value and this belief, but no mind is above self-actualization and self-awareness that recognizes that your love, your interests, your source of empowerment and inspiration are unique to you and are realized at different times in each lifetime. This conflict is shown most clearly in Magdy, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, which supports his family and his way of life and has done for decades, who also sympathizes with the words of his friend Ahmed, a revolutionary, who calls out the Brotherhood for making deals with the military to assume power. What may have taken a man 60 years to internalize may take another man just 10 or 20. Our minds are unique, but that doesn't mean we aren't connected, that we aren't capable of empathy and recognizing that despite our differences we come from the same place. Billions of light refractions that are all part of the same light. When a large amount of these refractions come together to form one shaft of light another realization is illuminated in the history of human evolution. A new way to live, an actualization of a possibility. These innumerable possibilities coexist, but nothing changes until we decide to focus our light on them, to open our eyes and move from observer to arbiter... http://funkyforestfirstcontact.wordpress.com
amoooooor
I watched Al Midan or @Thesquarefilm yesterday. I am not quiet used to watch a movie about an affair that I lived day by day. The film has triggered lots of emotions towards what has become to be known as a revolution and I'd rather call the 2011 demonstrations that I used to join on daily basis at the time.The movie is not bad at all and I definitely wish it would clinch an Oscar. Out of supporting a fellow Egyptian of course. Although it is not chronologically perfect and sometimes you get lost out of time , and you don't get comprehend when exactly this scene taking place in, but I guess it was quiet fair into pointing fingers at the culprits causing the ultimate failure of the demos. The revolutionaries for their Utopia kind of day dreams, the Ikhwan (MB) for being selfish and betraying the common calls of the demos for the sake of their own wishes and the military for not fulfilling their promises to the naive revolutionaries and eventually eating the whole cake alone.The characters in the movie represent different parts of the revolutionaries spectrum but many different characters have been missed. They forgot those who got fed up with the whole thing and would rather live in tyranny once more than this mess. They forget to show the selfish Islamists still running after their dreams of running an Afghanistan kind of state.The movie drove me through anger at myself in the beginning for being naive as well and trusting those people who ruined our dreams and towards our fellow demonstrators for daring to dream. Then, I grew into feeling sad for the people we lost along the way and for not being able to slap these selfish cunning Islamists at the face some time for doing what they did to us.I totally recommend owning a copy of the movie once the DVD is released. The future generations have to watch it, they should know who not to trust. They should not repeat the same mistakes.A well earned 7 out of 10 is what I would rate it.
