An Hour and a Half

Wael Ehsan's 2012 Egyptian film takes as its starting point the Ayyat train fire of 2002. Hundreds died in a fire on a train travelling south from Cairo, and almost all of them were passengers in the cheapest carriages. The film does not depict the disaster but the hour and a half preceding it. The stories of the passengers in a third-class carriage interlock: a man looking for work, a couple in flight, a family. The structure is ensemble drama, with each character given a short section. Its political ground is stated openly. The condition of the carriages, the absence of safety measures and negligence on the state railways are all shown directly. That this kind of criticism entered cinema in post-2011 Egypt was notable. Who it's for: those interested in ensemble drama drawn from real events and in Egyptian cinema. Who it's not for: viewers who want to avoid disaster scenes; the film shows the event directly at the end.