Translation: "This is Chaos?"
I took this photo on Monday 21 November at The Mugamma.
The street art is a spoof of the famous 2007 Egyptian film "This is Chaos" from the Egyptian director Youssef Chahine. The film focuses on the story of a corrupt policeman (Hatim, played by the actor Khaled Salah) who falls in love with a young teacher (Nour, played by the actress Hala Sadky). He continues to pursue her despite the teacher become engaged to her school's principal's son, a high ranking government official. Hatim proceeds to rape Nour and hide the evidence. Nour and her fiancee pursue the case and eventually find incriminating evidence against Hatim. At the end of the film, Hatim commits suicide.
NOTE: The title of the film does not include a question mark.
Below is a link to the film's trailer (without English subtitles)
The street art is a picture of Hatim with a gun before he commits suicide. Does the question mark in the street art serve to ask the people if the suicide of the police (of the government) is what they want? While Mubarak was certainly a brutal ruler, he didn't flee to Saudi Arabia, but rather stayed in Egypt to stand in court in front of his people. Do the Egyptian people want revenge or do they want justice? Is there a difference?
The saying goes that the best revenge is living well. It is my hope that the first round of parliamentary elections beginning tomorrow will be Egypt's first step towards living well.
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