Swedish-Egyptian director Tarik Saleh completes his ‘Cairo trilogy’ with Eagles of the Republic, a black-comic political thriller set in present-day Egypt. The film follows ageing movie star George Fahmy, played by Fares Fares, who is coerced into starring in a government propaganda biopic of the president.
George, a once-popular matinee idol, finds his career and personal life in shambles. Separated from his wife and estranged from his son Ramy, he is dating the much younger, talentless actress Donya (Lyna Khoudri). Under pressure from the regime, he agrees to the project after threats to his son’s life, supervised by the dead-eyed secret police chief Mansour (Amr Waked).
The film satirises the compromises made by artists under authoritarian rule, with a memorable scene where a general insists that Shakespeare was actually Arab, renamed ‘Sheikh Zoupir’. Fares Fares delivers a poignant performance, capturing both vanity and vulnerability. The cast also includes Donia Massoud and Cherien Dabis.
Comparisons have been drawn to Billy Wilder’s cynical thrillers and István Szabó’s Mephisto. Saleh’s script balances dark humour with a sense of despair, culminating in a sickening descent for the protagonist. The film is a searing critique of how the glamorous world of cinema can be co-opted for political propaganda.
