Pure passion and the battle against ubiquitous corruption dominate this Egyptian drama. In Choubra, a cosmopolitan district of Cairo, the unrelenting police chief Hatem rules with a hard hand. If you’re not for him, you’re against him and fear and terror spread. Only the young Nour, for whom he has a passionate weakness, dares to contradict him. She is not interested in the corrupt ageing tyrant, because she has preserved her honour and her heart for Sheriff, an honest public prosecutor. Sheriff is however not yet free. Against a colourful and politically-charged background, the three protagonists fight for their future, each in their own way. Until Hatem wants to force the young woman to her knees and things really get out of hand. Although Chaos can easily be judged in the first instance as a North African soap, under the melodramatic surface simmers a deeper and genuine worry about the area where the story is set. For a long time, Choubra was an example of peaceful coexistence between different communities. This has changed in recent years, as a result of political, economic and psychological factors. Chaos is therefore also a critical indictment of a changing climate in which important human values have been lost.
Film details
Countries of production
Egypt, France
Year
2007
Festival edition
IFFR 2008
Length
122'
Medium/Format
35mm
Language
Arabic
Premiere status
None
Director
Youssef Chahine, Khaled Youssef
Producer
Gabriel ng, Rachid Bouchareb, Jean Bréhat, Muriel Merlin