A One Mann’s Movies review of “Cairo Conspiracy” (2023).
Alternative Title: Walad min al-Janna (“Born From Heaven”)
“Cairo Conspiracy” seems to have financial contributions from just about every national film funding source in Europe! (Really – the opening credits are amazing!)
It’s set in Egypt, with an arabic soundtrack and subtitles. And it’s a very (VERY) tense political thriller where religion comes into direct opposition with the State.
This was seen as a #cineworldunlimited preview (the film opens this Friday). And it had a very surprising effect on my two fellow cinema-goers!
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
Adam (Tawfeek Barhom) is a teenager living in a rural fishing community, helping his father with the daily catch. But encouraged by his local Imam, Adam gains a scholarship to the legendary seat of Islamic learning called Al-Azhar in Cairo. But when the leader of the university, and the religious leader of Egypt, The Grand Imam dies, Adam becomes a pawn in an increasingly dangerous game of politics.
Certification:
UK: 12; US: NR. (From the BBFC: “Moderate violence, threat, bloody images, sex references”).
Talent:
Starring: Tawfeek Barhom, Fares Fares, Mehdi Dehbi, Makram Khoury, Mohammad Bakri, Moe Ayoub.
Directed by: Tarik Saleh.
Written by: Tarik Saleh.
Twitter Handle: #CairoConspiracy.
A View to a Kill. Tawfeek Barhom finds himself in deep water as the student Adam. (Source: Memento Films)
“Cairo Conspiracy” Review:
Positives:
- We’ve had lots of political thrillers and the odd religious thriller (“Angels and Demons” kept coming to mind). But I can’t think of another example that so directly pits the politics of religion against the state. And where better to reflect that approach than in Egypt, against a background of increasing social tension and with “civil war” being mooted. For I found this a fascinating insight into some of the machinations and customs of Islam, set against the background of the leading religious University in the region.
- I saw a review (in “Variety“) that suggested that this movie lacked tension. I would humbly disagree! The movie is very ‘quiet’. But it progressively and insidiously paints young Adam into a corner from which it seems there is no escape. And because of some leisurely character introductions in his home town, you are fully on Adam’s side from the get-go. The film piles on the emotion. For example, in the way he (heart-breakingly) has to frame, and so destroy the life-chances of, his roommate Raed (Ahmed Laissaoui). It’s something you feel terrible about. And Ibrahim’s boss, Sobhy (Moe Ayoub), is an epic villain that you end up despising by the end.
- The most interesting character in the film for me is Colonel Ibrahim (Fares Fares). In fact, I find him one of the most interesting film characters of the year so far. Ibrahim – with the State Intelligence Services – is dishevelled and with the manner of a Lieutenant Colombo. He appears kind and caring on the surface, but can then switch to be a fearsome bully. You think you are one place with the character. But then find you are somewhere else entirely and constantly being wrong-footed.
- The cinematography (by Pierre Aïm) is striking. He deploys some interesting framing of the mosque locations (actually filmed in Turkey, not Egypt). And he includes some memorable shots: for example, the overhead of Adam pushing through a matrix of red hats (below); the students walking through multi-level arched collonades, looking for all the world like a strange game of “Space Invaders”.
Memorable imagery by cinematographer Pierre Aïm. (Source: Memento Films)
- The script (a prize winner for Swedish-director Tarik Saleh at Cannes) is deep and complex. Did I understand all the Islamic interplay in the finale? Frankly, no, not fully. But I got the gist and appreciated it was clever writing. It was also a really fascinating insight into Islamic life and teaching. And this is probably the only film I’m likely to see where a ‘Quran-off’ features strongly!
Negatives:
- I need here to reflect the views of my two cinema-going companions: ‘The Illustrious Mrs Movie Man’ and ‘The Saintly Sarah Shaw’. BOTH ABSOLUTELY HATED THIS MOVIE. Both found it unbearably tense and distressing. TIMMM couldn’t believe it was only a “12” certificate! And TSSS was wearing a watch with a heart-rate monitor that kept going “beep beep beep” at certain points in the film! Both declared afterwards that if they had known that the other was going through the same stress, they would have mutually agreed to leave! It seemed to be an extreme reaction to me given the content, but clearly both found it equally triggering.
Summary Thoughts on “Cairo Conspiracy”
I found this a really interesting film. It is full of interesting insights into the Islamic religion as well as being a tense political thriller. Too tense for some though!
As a piece of cinema, it’s really well made. Tarik Saleh (still persona non-grata in Egypt) has clearly crafted here a very personal film. Here he describes his relationship to the source material:
“I have a personal relationship to Al-Azhar; my grandfather went to Al-Azhar and it’s an institution that I have been interested in for a long time. When I wrote the script there was no conflict between the president and Sheikh Al-Azhar, the Grand Imam. The conflict started when I had already written the script. So it has been very tense between Al-Azhar and Sisi [Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of Egypt]. I wanted to tell a story essentially about authority but I couldn’t ignore reality and I had to create a parallel reality in a way, because the real Sheikh Al-Azhar – Tayeb – is a very intelligent man, very sophisticated; a voice of reason, I would say, in a region full of crazy voices and megalomaniac leaders. He’s actually a voice of reason, so this power struggle that is going on is sort of a mix.”
[From a press conference for Cairo Conspiracy (2022) at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. Source: IMDB]
This was the Swedish entry for the Best International Film Oscar last year, but it didn’t make the shortlist. But I would still rate it as a film well-worth checking out.
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Trailer for “Cairo Conspiracy”
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG8C70oQYd0 .
