Note to Readers:
The Square is up for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
It chronicles the young people of Tahrir Square in Egypt who, by peaceful protests, bring about the fall of longtime Egyptian military dictator Hosni Mubarak...and then.. similarly precipitate the fall of Mohamed Morsi...when they and the majority of Egyptians believe he is abandoning democracy and moving towards theocracy.
The film may be seen on Netflixat: http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/70268449?mqso=81552984
The following is a letter filmmaker Jeff Shank wrote to a critic friend on the eve of the Oscar Ceremony.
Shank’s current project, Five Women, is a feature documentary about freedom & democracy in the Middle East.
Hey Alex,
I notice you've put The Square as tied for # 1 on your list of Top 10 Films for 2013.
Like you, I've seen The Square multiple times. It seems to get richer every time I see it. Even accounting for my friendship with the filmmakers and my natural interest in the subject matter, the film stays with me long after I've viewed it.
In these last few months—with the military regime moving toward an even more extreme version of a Mubarak-type police state—I find it absolutely haunting.
IfThe Square wins the Oscar, it may not (as you keep reminding me) alter what this regime does. But is the film destined to become only a poignant record of what-might-have-been? Somehow, I don't think so. I do not think the Egyptian people will allow that. They’ve learned too much about freedom and democracy these past 2 ½ years.
But aspects of this are beginning to remind me of the aching, emotional devastation of T. H. White's mythic book, The Once and Future King...which was loosely adapted into the film musical, Camelot.
Have you ever read it, Alex? It is a very adult re-telling of the Arthurian legend.
You know of the triangle...but in this version of the story...it’s a triangle where King Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot share a deep platonic love and respect for one another. Of course, the young Lancelot and Guinevere eventually have an affair...and are consumed with guilt over their betrayal of Arthur. Surprisingly, Arthur is aware of their relationship, and prepared to live with it. With uncommon and wistful wisdom, he realizes he has always been too old for his young wife.
Things turn tragic when the king's court discovers the affair and decides that Queen Guinevere must die. Though she is able to escape execution...neither Guinevere, Lancelot nor Arthur can escape their personal tragedy.
But the book puts forward an even greater tragedy: the death of democracy.
Arthur has formulated a governing code radically different from the authoritarian warlord code extant of "Might makes Right." He turns this on its head...instituting the Rule of Law...where his peoples' lives are governed by fair and just laws; where they enjoy real rights and aren't subject to the arbitrary whims of some all-powerful ruler. This new social order embraces the notion that "Right makes Might." In essence...he has created a kind of monarchial democracy.
But in the end...Arthur realizes that this democracy will be lost. He knows he will be killed in battle...and once again...England will fall into the hands of tyrannical warlords. Devastated as he is, he doesn't completely lose hope. For so long as people remember Camelot...there is the possibility they can recreate it.
Alex, the authoritarianism descending on Egypt, preventing The Square from being shown,is beginning to resemble that wonderful but heartbreaking tale.
Which is why I hope...all the more...that The Square might win the Oscar.
The world must long remember what gloriously happened in Egypt...for one brief shining moment.
Your pal,
Jeff