One Flew Over the Coup’s Nest: Saleh Muddles Through Propaganda Politics
“Propaganda, to be effective, must be believed. To be believed, it must be credible. To be credible, it must be true,” so said Hubert H. Humphrey. In the case of Tarik Saleh’s latest film, Eagles of the Republic, which is concerned with a film production meant to serve as an indoctrinated biopic of Egypt’s sitting president, a scenario is presented which is believable and credible but not altogether effective. Luckily, it isn’t true. Saleh returns to Egypt for yet another thriller starring his muse Fares Fares, this time approaching political malfeasance through a collision with the entertainment industry, which promises to be a juicy jumping off point. However, a strident, matter-of-fact tonality tends to purposefully avoid tension building through dark satire, but its subversive potential never dives deeper than a superficial tease.
George Fahmy (Fares Fares) is Egypt’s reigning matinee idol. Adored by the masses, he’s just completed a new film requiring reshoots due to the testy censorship board of women who are unhappy with a finale depicting him running off with the female lead, played by his equally famous friend and co-star Rula (Cherien Dabis). Two unmarried people riding off into the sunset is a no-no. But George, whose domestic life is also a morally questionable minefield considering he’s separated from his wife and dating a much younger actress, Donya (Lyna Khoudri), has just received an offer he literally cannot refuse. Egypt’s president, who is a fan of George, demands he star in a biopic about his rise to power. George resists, but is told in not so many words he has no choice. The film set is lorded over by one of the president’s cronies, Dr. Mansour (Amr Waked), who reigns in George’s various outbursts regarding artistic integrity. Concurrently, the film production brings him into the fray of a group of powerful men who call themselves the Eagles of the Republic, presided over by the Minister of Defense (Nael Ali), whose wife (Zineb Triki) has sparked the romantic interests of George. Tapped to make a speech on behalf of the group at an upcoming ceremony for the president, George believes doing what he’s told will eventually lead him out of this uncomfortable reality. Such is not the case for George.
Perhaps since it’s from George’s perspective in which the narrative unfolds (i.e., a narcissistic, apolitical celebrity who lives in his own oblivious bubble), we’re unsure just how serious the situation actually is. Sure, he’s received thinly veiled threats motivating him to take the role and perform as directed by a sinister henchman behind the scenes, but since George doesn’t seem worried, neither do we. Essentially, the first hour of the film exists in a similar universe to Bullets Over Broadway (1994), where a playwright must meet the demands of his mobster producer. Except Eagles of the Republic clearly isn’t funny, even as it inserts jovial asides about George being recognized at the pharmacy where he picks up viagra, and unwisely decides to use it on the night his young girlfriend’s onerous father has died.
Fares, as evidenced in Saleh’s previous, more serious films, such as 2017’s The Nile Hilton Incident (read review) and 2022’s Cairo Conspiracy (read review), is an enjoyably self-centered presence as ‘the pharaoh of cinema.’ A fading playboy unwilling to concede his waning virulence, he’s seemingly blatantly in denial about Donya using him to further her career. It would appear he’s already bored with her, moving onto the seduction of the Minister of Defense’s outspoken wife, Suzanne (a striking Zineb Triki). Suddenly, he’s falling in love with her, somehow ignoring the fact he’s likely being watched by the cryptic Dr. Mansour (who, through the repetition of a Samuel Beckett quote, basically confirms George’s apartment is bugged).
Khoudri, who is Algerian, is strange casting, especially given she has nothing to do but pout. More effective, but equally underdeveloped is his recently blacklisted co-star Rula, played with sympathetic fragility by director Cherien Dabis. Her subplot remains the most compelling, but for some reason we get the least amount of details since many of her struggles happen offscreen. Likewise a subplot involving George’s gay manager (Ahmed Khairy), a daring inclusion considering the locale (of note, the film was financed through France, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, the latter of which where Saleh is from).
Saleh’s script seems to be beating around the veritable bush for nearly two hours before it slams into violent gear, which effectively snaps the audience into a whiplash, but would have felt more effective had it arrived sooner. A tighter edit would greatly reduce the aimless, meandering quality, especially since multiple scenes regarding the film’s shoot also, by the nature of their falseness, feel flat. For a film named after a central clandestine group of power mongers flexing their might, the men who make up the Eagles of the Republic are, with the exception of the Minister, all instantly forgettable. Considering we’re only left with the remnants of their ‘artistic’ endeavor, it seems the more appropriate title and focus would have been an ironic play on the film George was strong-armed to star in. The main takeaway seems merely the most obvious, that artists and creatives living under dictatorship will become complicit in reiterating the agenda of the tyrants who rule them. Or perish.
Reviewed on May 19th at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival (78th edition) – Competition. 129 Mins.
★★/☆☆☆☆☆
