They became inseparable. Tarik Saleh, director, screenwriter and producer, and Fares Fares, his favorite actor, have many points in common: age (53 and 52), Swedish nationality and oriental origins (Egyptian for the first, Lebanese for the second), passion for political thrillers, which they have been exploring since Cairo confidential in 2017. They are doing it again today with The Eagles of the Republicthe story of a movie star who agrees to play Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in a film commissioned by the regime. Nothing is going to go as planned… Interview with the accomplice duo in Paris.
The Tangwall Campagin. Under what circumstances did you meet?
Fares Fares: Oh, I remember it like it was yesterday. I played the brother of a prisoner at the Guantanamo detention center in a play in Stockholm. Eva Bergman, Ingmar’s daughter, directed the show. We had worked together several times. She invited Tarik to a performance, because he had produced a documentary on the subject called Gitmo (2005) and went there. He shared his experience with us to deepen our knowledge and improve our service. I listened to him attentively. We stayed in touch.
I’m not here to please the camera.”
Fares Fares
Tarik Saleh: Of course, I knew who Fares was before that night. We had met before through mutual friends and I had admired him since his first comedies with his brother Josef. When I saw him on stage, I had a revelation: Fares was a serious actor! Which his image absolutely did not convey on the big screen. I immediately understood that I would direct it one day. This is what a director wants: to find external inspiration. In this case, embodied by a person. When a painter falls in love with a color, he can no longer do without it because it carries meaning. With cobalt blue, we sketch an ocean. Furthermore, I like Fares’ down-to-earth and pragmatic side.
FF: Please note that I was not Jim Carrey either! (Laughs.) I tended to take on the roles of ordinary guys, funny without knowing it because something happened to them, like Adam Sandler. But very quickly, I was famous for dark thrillers like the franchise Department V Investigationswith my teammate Nikolaj Lie Kaas (recently seen in the series Families Like Ours, by Thomas Vinterberg, Editor’s note). To end on the birth of my friendship with Tarik, I cite a disturbing event. At the time, I often stayed in Los Angeles. I went to the cinema and, sitting in the theater, I saw a bald head a few rows in front of me that looked like Tarik’s. (Laughs.) I shouted his name and he turned around. A total coincidence! I was then preparing for Christmas and New Year’s Eve with a group of friends, and I asked him to join us. He accepted.
And you have collaborated on five occasions
FF: Yes, even for his cartoon, Metropia (2009), where I gave my voice to a secondary protagonist. I spent a lot of time in the studio observing the manufacturing process, Tarik detailed each step for me.
TS: We are on the same wavelength, even in terms of our artistic expectations. We were neighbors for a while: as we were both single, I threw parties in my bedroom which I had transformed into a private cinema room with a projector, and Fares helped me install an optimal sound system. So much so that, when we launched Gladiator (2000), by Ridley Scott, neighbors rang my doorbell because they thought they heard horses galloping in the apartment! (Laughs.) We devoured the classics of Pier Paolo Pasolini, Krzysztof Kieslowski and many others, we had fiery conversations. Unconsciously, we assessed each person’s sensitivity. I salute the actors who, when they are good, have the possibility of becoming someone else. With Fares, we cultivate a special relationship, I have blind trust in him and I respect him infinitely. I listen to him when he points out a contradiction, an error. He follows his instinct and he is always right. Perhaps another director would feel threatened in his authority, I welcome his remarks as a blessing!
FF: So I often ask him to film me in close-up to flatter my ego! (Laughs.) Of course I’m joking, because I really don’t care. I am not there to please the camera, but to serve the purpose. The audience is touched by a character, not based on what they see but what lies inside. If it’s hollow, then everything falls apart and nothing is credible. I never know how I will interpret it when I arrive on set: I understand the environment, the team, the light, everything affects my performance. My mood also affects me because we are human beings. So it’s impossible to prepare in advance because there are so many parameters that come into play on the day. Imagine that I’m Kylian Mbappé in the Champions League and I score ten goals, but Real Madrid loses 11 to 10. It doesn’t matter that I scored that many if we were beaten. The collective must take precedence over the individual.
In “The Eagles of the Republic”, you play an actor hungry for power, fame and money. A relevant mise en abyme?
FF: In my job, we are all narcissists. But my character has reached a hell of a level! (Laughs.) He needs to be idolized to move forward. He places himself at the center of attention because his training is classic, far from the method which consists of hiding behind a role. He thinks he has the situation under control, but he is wrong. He reminds me of Humphrey Bogart, Marcello Mastroianni and Alain Delon. I had a lot of fun.
The line is blurred between fiction and reality these days
Tarik Saleh
TS: I wrote especially for Fares, but thinking of the ultracharismatic stars of the golden age of Egyptian cinema like Ahmed Zaki, Adel Imam or Mohamed Ramadan. I was told that the latter had lots of assistants on the sets, including one to carry his shoes! I also thought of Omar Sharif, whom I met when I was a journalist thirty years ago. I could see that he was consumed by bitterness and bitterness even though his life was full, thanks to David Lean and his masterpieces Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965). He was a true chameleon, who spoke several languages fluently and appeared on the arms of the most beautiful women. And a mathematical genius, adept at playing bridge, who accumulated debts, he shot commercials to pay them off. You realize that he had been counting the words during our interview!
Fares, do you enjoy transforming yourself on screen?
FF: I had gained weight and I had grown a beard to The Cairo Conspiracy (2022). Tarik told me that we were no longer young and that it would be difficult to lose this weight. But I went from 89 to 67 kilos for The Eagles of the Republicto the point that my wife ordered me to eat otherwise I would compromise my health. I ate sashimi while Tarik ate high-calorie meals! (Laughs.)
TS: His transformation was incredible. Fares plays a man who sells his soul to the devil after receiving a tempting offer. The evil one knows how to do it, he adjusts according to your fears, your needs, your desires. He is very good at this little game and he will definitely win, he will take everything from you. And you will beg him to get your life back.
Tarik, you have been banned from Egypt and threatened, why take the risk of exposing the current president in office, Abdel Fattah al-Sissi?
TS: I have no choice, I must tell the truth: al-Sissi will be in power until his death, barring a coup d’état or revolution. The line is blurred between fiction and reality these days, that’s what I wanted to address in the film, because this conflict is interesting. Whether in the Bible or the Koran, we like to tell and transmit stories based on real elements. Except that today, we have leaders who blatantly lie to us, relay their propaganda and present themselves as individuals that they absolutely are not. I believe the government has viewed The Eagles of the Republic since its selection at the Cannes Film Festival last May. I express my concern and I do not put myself in danger because I have a Swedish passport. I don’t have to ask permission, I use my freedom of expression. Every feature film is political. I am constantly told that I am brave and in danger. But no ! I would be if I lived in Egypt and I would definitely pay the price.
Where did you shoot?
TS: The Cairo Conspiracy And The Eagles of the Republic in Istanbul, and Cairo confidential in Casablanca. I haven’t set foot in Egypt for ten years, my reconstruction is melancholy because it is based on my somewhat tarnished memories. Cairo, which is 6,000 years old, is a place where time seems to stand still. Like Paris, when you come from abroad. We recognize places, noises, smells, tastes.
FF: I rehearsed with a language mastery coach because Egyptian Arabic is very different from Lebanese Arabic. Which, moreover, is rusty at home because I left Beirut as a child. With Tarik, we speak to each other in Swedish. I would like to take this opportunity to announce that I would love to make a film in Paris. Please tell Jacques Audiard to call me. I will learn French especially for him, no problem. And too bad if Tarik is jealous! (Laughs.)
The Eagles of the Republic ★★★
In Cairo, George Fahmy is a huge movie star adored by his fans and who succeeds in everything. He receives a proposal from the government: to play Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi in a biopic to his glory for posterity. He hesitates, but is forced to accept when his son’s life is threatened… This new political thriller by Tarik Saleh ventures once again into the mysteries of power to denounce the corruption, blackmail, censorship, surveillance, plots, manipulations, intimidations suffered by the hero, caught in an inextricable situation which degenerates. The sensory staging serves as a backdrop for the remarkable score of Fares Fares, as charismatic as ever.
By Tarik Saleh, with Fares Fares, Lyna Khoudri, Zineb Triki. 2:09. Release Wednesday
