Cairo Conspiracy, The Three Musketeers and How to Blow Up a Pipeline

 

I have never seen anything like it. A political thriller set in Al-Azahr Mosque in Cairo, a university and a mosque (the most important for Islamic learning in the Muslim world) that "now teaches Islam according to the Sunni doctrine. When the incumbent Great Iman dies, the choice of successor has many twists and turns. Central to the plot is young Adam (Tawfeek Barhom) a fisherman's son from the coast who gains a scholarship to the University. Recruited by secret service agent Colonel Ibrahim ( the terrific Fares Fares), he infiltrates an ultra conservative group of possibly anarchist students. We have seen this plot before, an innocent informant at severe risk of his life. But never in this setting. Director Tarik Saleh made the superb Nile Hotel Incident (post 20th July 2020) and this is just as good.

Another foreign language movie, this time a huge French blockbuster. Their title was just D'Artagnan which is much better. Played by Francois Civil, this adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas novel concentrates on this character. Huge production values, great costumes, scenery, music etc. Thank goodness there were not many duels, it is the story that's important. Not sure about some of the translation for the subtitles, but the cast is good (I recognised Vincent Cassel and Romain Duris) and Eva Green shines as Milady. But best of all, I thought Lyna Khoudri was exceptional as Constance. Director Martin Bourboulin has made a good adventure film. But it didn't need to be in IMAX. Will I see Part 2? Only if Constance is back.

There they are above the film's title on the poster. The eight actors playing the four men and four women who are the eight saboteurs. Each of their stories is told in flashbacks at certain crucial points in the action. Adapted from the novel by Andrea Malm, Daniel Goldhaber has produced a decent script and an intelligent movie. There are moments of classic "show not tell" that worked fine. We never quite know if their plan will work or whether it will be a disaster. Of all the eight, I preferred Forrest Goodluck (a Native American) as  Michael. But they all interacted really well. I wasn't sure about their motives, but we do get an alternative view from one of the cast. The film was only on for one week and I'm glad I made the effort to see it.