You’ve heard the buzz, and seen its title proudly promoted by Netflix. A beautiful but haunting image of an angel with colorful wings, rising from a grey cloud captures your attention, a juxtaposition that perfectly describes one of the most powerful documentaries of the year to date. From beginning to end, the film is a heavy, emotional journey through the Egyptian political revolution and for as much blood being shed, twice as much optimism for the future is seen in The Square.
While it would help to have a general understanding of Egypt’s politics, it’s not necessary to jump right into the film. The beginning starts off heavy, delving right into the protest of President Mubarak and his ultimate fall from office. The celebration doesn’t last long as once thought hero Mohamed Morsi is elected President, and soon becomes the people of Egypt’s worst nightmare. The rise and fall of political leaders in a country struggling to have civil rights is a heavy subject to tackle, but director Jehane Noujaim makes this issue easy to understand and connect to, even from watching half a world away.
The Square is receiving critical acclaim for its journalism because of the urgency in the subject, and for its incredible, ruthless filmmaking.
The Square is receiving critical acclaim for its journalism because of the urgency in the subject, and for its incredible, ruthless filmmaking. There is no shortage of dark moments, so one needs to be mentally prepared to watch this film. The camera gets so close to bullets and blood that the audience feels as if they’re in the middle of the revolution too. It doesn’t get too graphic with the death scenes, although there is one scene that captures an incident when a group of protestors get run over by a tank. While it may be hard to watch, ultimately that’s what makes The Square a boundary-pushing, Academy Award nominee.
Aside from the obvious effects of raising awareness, The Square is an inspirational journey showing an unprecedented number of young people getting involved in their government. The main subject Ahmed Hassan is such a relatable, charismatic character; he serves as the perfect guide throughout the film. The Square doesn’t just follow a historical timeline of facts and politics, it delves much deeper than that; it observes the connection between people, regardless of religion, gender, etc, and the unity of working toward a greater good, which everyone can relate to. We can’t all relate to war, but we can relate to human connections.
When the film is over and the credits roll, we can discuss our thoughts and nod to the fact that this film opened our eyes to a situation we may not have been informed about. It’s heartbreaking to think that the film may span only 2 hours for us, but for the people fighting in Egypt, their struggle continues today. What we witness on-screen is a daily occurrence with danger lurking at any moment for Ahmed and Jehane and their families; for this reason and countless others, The Square should be on your list of must-see documentaries.
