The Angel (2018)

Based on NYT bestselling book 'The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel' by Uri Bar-Joseph.

Director:

Ariel Vromen

Writers:

David Arata, Uri Bar-Joseph (based on the novel by)

Stars:

Marwan Kenzari, Toby Kebbell, Waleed Zuaiter

Cast

Credited cast:
Marwan Kenzari	...	Ashraf Marwan
Toby Kebbell	...	Danny Ben Aroya
Waleed Zuaiter	...	Gamal Abdel Nasser
Hannah Ware	...	Diana Ellis
Sapir Azulay	...	Souad
Sasson Gabai	...	Anwar Sadat
Ori Pfeffer	...	Zvi Zamir
Maisa Abd Elhadi	...	Mona Marwan
Tsahi Halevi	...	Gadaffi
Oliver Trevena	...	Mario
Atanas Srebrev	...	Chemistry Professor
Ralitsa Paskaleva	...	Mossad Agent
Karl Farrer	...	Israeli Ambassador
Slimane Dazi	...	Sami Sharaf
Bern Collaço	...	Hotel Guest

Storyline

True story of Ashraf Marwan, who was President Nasser's son-in-law and special adviser and confidant to his successor Anwar Sadat - while simultaneously Israeli Intelligence's most precious asset of the 20th century. Based on NYT bestselling book 'The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel' by Uri Bar-Joseph.

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Plot Keywords:

based on true story | 

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Taglines:

In the shadow of war, one man fought for peace.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

Israel USA

Language:

English Arabic Hebrew Italian

Release Date:

14 September 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Angel

Filming Locations:

Morocco

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sumatra Films, TTV Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a pub scene when Marwan leaves a meeting with Danny ("Alex"), a writing can be seen "Beware of little expenses, a small leak will sink a great ship".

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Goofs

The business aircraft Ashraf Marwan is flying on from the Arab Republic of Egypt is a Gulfstream IV. The time period is 1970 and the Gulfsteam IV didn't go into production until 1985.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Ashraf Marwan: [narrating] 1967. The Summer of Love. But can the idea of love and peace really bring about change to a world living on the edge of war? In the Middle East, long-simmering tensions are about to burst into flames.

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Soundtracks

Rarnati Bad Phone
Written by Azeddine Diani & Pat Jabbar
Performed by Kasbah Rockers feat. Shayma
Courtesy of Barraka El Farnatshi Prod.

User Reviews

So many plot holes

Subject: 10/10; Film execution: 3/10

Ashraf Marwan is so-called the greatest asset for Israel as a spy in the 20th century. The film, however, failed to address the two central questions and thereby did not get viewers engaged emotionally.

The questions are (1) who Ashraf Marwan was (i.e. what brought him up to such a high ranking position even after his father-in-law President Nasser passed away); and (2) what his motivation as a spy was (i.e. why his patriot drive forces were not fulfilled within the Egyptian Presidential Office.) The biggest problem for me is the true reason why Marwan leaked critical information about war prep from his country to the enemy. The film seemingly described him like a peacemaker, but the leak served for only Israel's interests and caused damages on Egypt's side, from my viewpoint.

In order to fully illustrate the true story of Marwan, the film should've more deeply told about prolonged political tensions and dynamics between the Arab League and Israel, and more importantly described how Marwan made moves under the situation. Without explaining political efforts made by both sides, Marwan in this film looks merely like a betrayal idiot desperately in need of money.

Rather, the producers allocated more time to focus on soap opera-ish family matters and personal relationship between Marwan and his handler from the Israel Mossad. Such unstructured screenwriting and directing are everywhere in this film and derailed me from the main theme. So while watching I was frequently forced to google the Yom Kippur War in the 1970s as well as key players. And then I learned that the film ruined the original novel written by a political science professor. Although I only skimmed the novel, it is very informative yet intriguing and easy to understand in a politically neutral way.

This film could've been better if directed by someone else and made as a TV mini series, not a 2-hour film. Poor acting - which some other reviewers have already pointed out - is not mainly due to lack of acting skills or low budget, but inevitable due to shallow cheesy screenwriting with multiple plot holes. Still it may be worthwhile for those who are interested in but not so familiar with the history of the Middle East. At least for me it became a good start to further research for myself.