Clash

After denouncing the harassment of women in his first film Cairo 678 (2010), Egyptian writer/director Mohamed Diab opts for a more objective approach in tackling another provocative topic in this fascinating, if formulaic insight into the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi's "Muslim Brotherhood" government in July 2013. Re-creating the sense of microcosmic claustrophobia that was achieved inside an Israeli tank in Lebanon (2009), Diab explores the political issues dividing the nation by bundling prisoners from a cross-section of society into a police van and letting them vent forth. Some of their debates expose the implacability of the situation that followed the Arab Spring, while a handful of revelations feel tritely melodramatic. But, without once straying outside the vehicle, Diab ingeniously conveys the tumult generated by the crowds demonstrating in the streets and the brutality employed by the police and military to retain control. The ensemble playing is excellent, particularly during the quieter ruminations on the everyday things these furious foes have in common.