Sharaf

This film deserves more than one review. I've just seen it on arte, totally missed the screening in cinemas here in Germany.

The film is a grim portrayal of the Egyptian society as seen through the eyes of the prisoners. I'm assuming here this is the Egyptian society, because it could as well be Algeria, Tunis, or so many other Arab speaking countries struggling in the post colonial quagmire for decades, and burdened with corruption and poverty.

A young man, due to unfortunate circumstances, and a confession extorted under torture, ends up in a prison. The prison is led by corrupt officers who, using a network of snitches, and cruel punishment methods, manage to keep the prisoners obedient.

It's a very good film, with good plot, well executed and the acting was good too. I'm only discovering Arab cinema and what I've seen here makes me want to see more. I'd totally recommend the movie.

No pun intended - I am a bit surprised. First of all that the movie is from 2021, but just made it onto German cinema screens. But even more so that no one has done a review here. On the other hand, I reckon there are other sites people go to nowadays. Well I'm sticking with you imdb ... guilty as charged - and another pun to use for me.

But jokes aside and you have to put them aside, this is quite the serious topic and really a tough movie to watch. I did not plan to watch prison movies back to back ... and both in cinemas too. Back to back is not the exact timeline of course, but really close to each other.

And both really great movies too. And both quite different to each other - so you could do a double bill with both of them. The main character here is quite the interesting yet too easy to manipulate guy. The movie shows how justice systems can work (or rather not). It also shows from the start how torture does not really work in certain situations ... at least not if you seek the truth.

The microcosmos of the prison represents society - with higher ups being in control ... and playing the others like puppets ... again no pun intended. A tight story, with great performances too.