The Square

The Square Documentary Review

 Directed by Jehane Noujaim

   

 2013 ‧ Drama/History ‧ 1h 48m

 IMDB          Rotten Tomatoes    Metacritic

 8.1/10                100%                   84%

My Rating 

✰✰✰✰

The Academy nominated documentary "The Square" is an absolutely harrowing and yet inspiring look into the demonstrations leading into the revolution happening in Tahrir Square from 2011-2013. The documentary follows a few of the activists who stayed in Tahrir Square until President Hosni Mubarak left and continues to follow their journey as the people of Egypt try to establish a different type of government rule. Unfortunately this divided the country into different sects or groups with their own specific interests in mind. This documentary more closely follows just two groups: the liberal youths and the Muslim Brotherhood. One group is clearly more in the spotlight and more sympathized with while the other was sort of shunned and looked down upon, but I'll discuss more on this later. Overall the documentary gives an excellent look into the Tahrir Square revolution on a very personal and individual level with some cuts to what was happening in the entire country in general. It definitely gives the viewer good information on a situation that was not very widely covered by Western media and gives a platform for these individuals to tell their stories of injustice and the fight for a better rule of the country they love. 

While there is a lot to praise about the film there is one glaring problem that is a bit difficult to ignore, and it is the reason why I could not give this documentary all 5 stars. There is a bit of an obvious bias problem. The film has an obvious bias agains the Muslim Brotherhood and paints them as a group who only has their own selfish religious interests in mind when it comes to electing the next ruler of the country but doesn't explain much about who exactly the Muslim Brotherhood is and basically just generalizes a large group of people. Whether this was done to forward the tension in the documentary or if it was a realistic depiction of the tensions between the Muslim Brotherhood and the secular "others" I cannot really say for sure. The Washington Post wrote about this bias in their article titled "The Square is a beautiful documentary, but its politics are dangerous" in which they go into much deeper detail about the misinformation being presented and how it is further polarizing groups in Egypt. Journalist Max Fisher writes, "Rather than reaffirming the pluralistic ideals that made early 2011 so hopeful, it contributes to Egypt's poisonous atmosphere of polarization and distrust by its one-sided and often polemical portrayal of the Muslim Brotherhood." Near the end a member of the Muslim Brotherhood (Magdy Ashour) and a member of the opposing side (Ahmed Hassan) share a phone call in which they both put behind their dislike of the others ideologies behind them and explain that at the bottom of it both groups just want a better Egypt and it is worth fighting for no matter which side you appear on. This was endearing although doesn't really make up for the significant bias problem. 

Overall, this documentary is very important to watch if you have little knowledge on the Arab Spring (including myself here) or want to learn more on current events occurring in Egypt's history. It is very well produced and several scenes are simply so shocking and difficult to watch but without the harsh reality we would not be able to understand the plight and pain of Egypt's people. This is a documentary that will stick with you not only for the suffering people in Tahrir Square went through but also a story of change and fighting to better your country. The injustice these people have gone through is something that needs to be broadcasted and learned from and hopefully a more promising future for the people in Egypt is on the way. Their voices must be heard.