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Tickling Giants

Tickling Giants (2017)

March. 15,2017
|
8.2
| Documentary

The Arab Spring in Egypt: From a dictator to free elections, back to a dictatorship. One comedy show united the country and tested the limits of free press. This is the story of Bassem Youssef, a cardiologist turned comedian, the Jon Stewart of Egypt, and his show "The Show".

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Alicia
2017/03/15

I love this movie so much

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Micitype
2017/03/16

Pretty Good

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MamaGravity
2017/03/17

good back-story, and good acting

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Keeley Coleman
2017/03/18

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

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sherifhusseinezzat
2017/03/19

Tickling Giant is a captivating, intense and authentic experience of what it means to rebel, about the consequences, what the stakes really are, and how the fresh wind of change is received by both the crooks and the oppressed. It is not the story of Bassem Youssef, for Bassem is only a satirist not a leader; it is a story of a voice retrieved, fought for with blood, clenched onto, and then ultimately lost. It shows, with vividness and authenticity, both the promise of the Arab spring and its eventual failure, touching on the reasons for that and showing the timeline of all of it happening in slow and inexorable progression. It is a must-see for those who are interested in the story of the Arab Spring , for those who want to understand what it means to live in a third-world country where authoritarianism and ignorance prevail, and even for those who just want to know how fascism works and how to spot its warning signs. It's all of this and more, told in the context of Bassem Youssef's world.As an Egyptian, I watched myself laugh, smile and cry throughout the film as I lived all of it again.

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j-singleton
2017/03/20

If you were like me, you were enthralled by the kids who help topple Egypt's Mubarak regime what seems like ages ago. Dr. Bassem Youssef emerged out of that chaos, and played the role of gadfly to the next regime, all-the-while following a script that folks like Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert had made famous in the United States.Tickling Giants deconstructs Bassem Youssef's story following a combination of interviews, on-air broadcasts and contributions from Stewart, various political pundits and even Youssef's family. It would be a beautiful, poignant take on the life of a comedian, but...of course, the crash of Egypt's brief democratic experiment is reeling in the background.Sara Taksler--Producer for the The Daily Show--ventures into documentary film remarkably, with a story that does not allow itself to be choked with data nor overwhelmed by the giant personality that is Bassem Youssef. What emerges instead is Youssef's amazing mixture of idiocy and courage, with those who took him to the Ball now begging to be the first to hang him from the rafters. It is a peculiarly effective documentary--moving forward in time but backwards progressively as Egypt descends, and as the threats, charges and actions against Youseff begin to pile up.Perhaps the most telling part of the film is the courage of Youssef's staff--compiled of an amazing group of talented young writers, it is easy to see why Youseff is so sad. It is not his own but their future that he is risking his jokes to defend. For those who do not have friends from the Arab world, a couple of minutes with his crew tosses aside any preconceptions of what it means to be from the Middle East, and I was left saddened to think that the ones likely to be trampled first when the giants are tickled are these funny, courageous women and men.On every level, Taksler's years of working with satire and shorts for the Daily show has allowed her to create this documentary like a series of haiku, and the beautiful sadness that is Tickling Giants serves well either as art or education, though it remains a documentary pleading for a better ending than the one Egypt's dictators seem to be planning.

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prekaa
2017/03/21

A film by the sarcasm Bassem Youssef presents the stage of the development of the satirical program that he presented in Egypt from the beginning of his activity until he stopped working. Youssef is considered one of the most famous personalities in Egypt. He always speaks in the language of the people and says what people can not express .. We hope the programe come back

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otakageme
2017/03/22

I liked That Movie , It Make Me remember That Beautiful Days Watching You , You Make Me Hope To Be As You ! Bassem You Are The Best If You Can Return Return Man All Of Us Recognized That We Was Wrong We wasn't Rolled By A President We Were Roling By Bala7a ! Bassem I Say It Again Man , Reeeeturn <<<<3333

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