New Jersey Stage 2017: Issue 8 | Page 24

Things really heat up with the addition of a group of Muslim Brotherhood supporters, caus- ing ructions between the two factions as they verbally and physically spar like two dogs in a one-dog kennel. The obvious western parallel for Clash might be something like Sidney Lumet’s Twelve An- gry Men, but it excises the idea that one voice can make a dif- ference. Here, in the dankness and darkness of Diab’s mobile cage, a single voice struggles to NJ STAGE 2017 - Vol. 4 No. 8 be heard, let alone listened to. Both sides argue their case, not always convincingly, but neither wins any ground. What little am- ity emerges comes out of mere necessity, like when a small bot- tle of water is passed between the two parched cliques, or how both groups of men agree to turn their backs to allow a young girl to relieve herself. The physical toil of the truck’s seemingly endless journey is so tangible that I recommend you take a trip to your cinema’s bath- INDEX NEXT ARTICLE 24