Avanti Popolo

A most beautiful anti-war movie. It describes the surreal journey of two Egyptian soldiers as they're coming back to Cairo from the Six-day War of 1967. One is an aspiring actor, whose biggest role so far was that of Shakespeare's Shylock (the irony of fate), who contributes the role of the sad clown (played in a most touching way by the Arab-Israeli actor Salim Daw); the other soldier is a very disillusioned and broken man whose only aspiration is to return home (while he is not familiar to me, he performs his role very well too). This contrast between the real and the fantastic is possibly what enhances the movie's message most.

While the movie fluctuates between pacifist euphoria and tragedy, it is a very focused and thought-provoking film.