the leading man is my tpye

What a waste of my time!!!

Best movie ever!

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Viewed at Los Angeles Preview, Dec. 2013: "The Square" (Al Meidan). a new documentary thriller straight from the barricades in Cairo, has received the Best Documentary of the year award and has turned out to be one of the hottest film events of the tail end of calendar year 2013. PHOTO: Ahmad Hassan, young protester rides atop a triumphant crowd in Tehrir Square"The Square" (Tehrir Square in Cairo, scene of all the major Egyptian protest demonstrations of the past two years) a two hour long documentary on the Nightmarish 'Arab Spring' in Egypt, is an astounding personal summary of the events in Egypt from the fall of the Mubarak dictatorship in early 2011 to the rise and fall of the Moslem Brotherhood under "legally elected" Islamist president Morsi just a few months ago.Intrepid female director, Jehane Noujaim, an American Egyptian filmmaker went to Cairo in January 2011 to witness the historical events taking place in her home town with no such ambitious film project yet in mind ..The reality on the ground in front of her eyes in the very neighborhood where she grew up — with cataclysmic political changes already underway — prompted her to set up a team to record these unfolding events in proper professional style. She and her team stayed with the ongoing insurrection for two years, through thick and thin, focusing on the personalities of three central impromptu revolutionaries, while placing themselves directly in the line of fire.What emerges is a you-are-there documentary that is more cinema vérité than classical documentary — like news flashes from the front lines with a Hollywood thriller plot line to boot.Basically she followed three regular Tehrir protesters around, both on the street during life- threatening situations, and off the street in private interviews reflecting on the events in progress. One, Ahmed Hassan simply speaks straight from the shoulder with no pretensions whatsoever. Ahmed is an average guy who is convinced that the time for the common people to regain their dignity after decades of humiliation and oppression under Mubarak has finally come. He just happens to have the disarming charm and charisma of a Leonardo Di Caprio.Khalid Abdallah is a professional British actor of Egyptian background with a Cambridge degree. In 2006 he played the leader of the Arab hijackers in Paul Greengrass's 9/11 drama "Flight 93″. In Jehane's Square he plays himself — an ordinary Egyptian with a conscience crying out for democracy. Khalid takes a more intellectual view than the others but is every bit as committed and willing to put his body on the line. His father back in England is also a longtime advocate of democracy for Egypt. We see Khalid talking to his father via SKYPE in UK to keep him abreast of happenings on the front line in the Square.The battle lines swing back and forth. After Mubarak is toppled an interim military junta takes over. Finally the Junta agrees to hold "free elections"' however, as Hassan points out with surprising political savvy, the democratic minded opposition in The Square has no cohesive structure, so the choice becomes one between the fundamentalist minded Moslem Brotherhood, or a continuation of Mubarak style Military rule — in other words not much of a choice at all for the democracy minded activists who represent the bulk of the Egyptian populace.The Botherhood — the "Akhwan" — win by a slim majority and Morsi takes over — as a "legally elected" president. At first even Washington supports him, but it soon becomes clear that Morsi wants to install an Islamic Dictatorship. Watching Morsi attempting to assume dictatoriaĺ powers on television Ahmed Hassan remarks wryly, "He's digging his own grave" — and then leads another charge into The Square. This time Hassan is hit by live ammo and hospitalized, but he recovers quickly and the Moslem Brotherhood regime is also toppled. But what is the new alternative?The third central figure is Magdy, a personal friend of secular Ahmed but a committed Moslem Brotherhood believer. As events progress we witness his final disappointment and disillusion with the brotherhood in spite of his deep religious feelings. His own son is now an active demonstrator against Brotherhood oppression. At the end of the film, completed just two months ago, the military is back in the drivers seat and the nation is in limbo. In a final sequence the three main figures agree that the opposition is too unstructured and that what is needed is a new constitution — and a new consciousness — but this will take time to work out.As the year 2014 opens the situation in Egypt is still up in the air with the military cracking down severely, much as was the case under Mubarak. The question now is what is worse?– the military or the Islamists — and will democracy in some form still have a chance?On very limited release in November 2013 this amazing film was seen by almost nobody because NETFLIX who own the rights, allotted Zero publicity budget. However, The power of Jehane Noujaim's film is such that, if it gets an Oscar in March on top of the Best Documentary distinction already earned it may become an international cause celèbre and may then reach enough people to make a real difference on the ground — not only in Egypt but elsewhere as well. In any case this is a film absolutely not to miss simply as a cinematic adventure that is sure to become a landmark if and when the final chapter of the Arab Spring is ever written.

First hand footage of the one of the most important political events in these times.All I can think is that we're very lucky to have these images that reconstruct such a story: kids start an important revolution that is hijacked by an organized religious group and see, in front of their eyes and their martyr-like effort shattered dreams of a democratic forward-looking country.With many countries following suit and falling in the same traps, this is a history lesson being unfolded in front of our eyes. The flickering and bad cameras cannot minimize the pure gold that comes from the screens. It's like having footage from the bastille or of the Russian revolution.A must see.A cautionary tale for all revolutionaries.

This documentary is about people fighting and standing up for what they want and believe in. I think the purpose of this documentary is to stand up for what you believe in, and have the courage to stand up for you and fight for what you and everybody else needs. I didn't know that this happened to people and I didn't know some people in the world were denied access to basic human rights, it's sad and cruel what those people have to go through. They all risked a lot by standing and camping at the square; they were all breaking rules and defying the people in charge. This documentary showed a lot of courage and strength. It showed how strongly people care about their rights and how strongly they wanted to be treated like equals. I'd recommend this documentary to anyone who's interested in these types of things.

I was one of the people that went down the street to take down Mubarak's regime, I was not in Tahrir square of course because I am from Alexandria not Cairo, but I was there ... when I watched the movie, it gave me the chills, same ones that I had when I was running away from a police vehicle or a gang of soldiers with tear gas launchers. The movie is so realistic as it was truly shot on the ground of the events, by the people who shared in defending what they believe in. I was so proud to see people like me, thinking like me, but were so brighter by bringing out their gear and risking their lives to document such marvelous events in such a fantastic way. If you shared in this on going revolution, it will bring tears to your eyes just to be reminded of what happened, and if you do not know about what happened in the past two years, do not worry .. this movie will get you there in almost two hours. WISH IT GETS THE Oscar!!