Development of Arab Film - Essay Example

Development of Arab filmReasons for cinema decline in Arab after 1970sHammond cites cultural diversity, political instability and poverty as the primary reasons for the decline of Arab cinema. The cultural and ideologies of Islam religion challenged directors and filmmaker in Arab world from creating aliterary work that was against Islam teaching. Arab world faced political stability because nations such as Egypt were still going to civilization after World War II. The diversity of the culture was defined by people who had legitimate Islamic origin and the non-islands who were looked down upon by the natives.

Views about effect of Islam on Arab cinemaShafik holds the view that Islamic prohibited the depiction of creatures such as man and beast because they carried a soul (p. 48). However, the Quran does not have instructions on the subject giving Arab cinema creators a chance to come up with pieces that include man and beast character. The cinema producers are prohibited by Islam from using images that are works of Satan. The minor religious objection led to the development of film in Arab. Role of symbolism in Arab films and extent to which its use is influenced by western filmsSymbolism is used to develop relations between characters and the plot of the films.

Traditional Arab culture did not recognize symbolism in both fine arts and literary genres such as classical poetry ( Shafik61).Lack of symbolism recognition in Arab films then paved way for western film influence. The films began to integrate symbols into Arab’s literary creations. The process brought meaning to symbols used in Arab fills that would depend on different elements to fix images. The influence of western films came in to teach the directors how to come up with symbols with unambiguous statements.

Major forms/elements of popular theatre in Arab filmsThe major forms or elements of popular theatre in Arab films include performers, audience, director, theatre space, design elements, and dramatic action personified in text. The elements were initially developed by the activities of the actors, actresses and directors who combined effort to create plays with public appeal. For instance, a play such as Kish Kishbey was adapted for film but the play was a success due to combined effort of the stars (Shafik72).

The films were directed for Arab and international audience after World War II. The dramatic actions, design elements and arrangement of theatre space were influenced by elements of European theatre Reasons why music played a role in the development of Arab cinemaMusic played a significant role in the development of Arab cinema because it was one form of export that producers could use to sell music beyond local borders (Shafik 107)music was used by cinema producers to relate with the local audience.

The producers did not want to come up with pieces that would appear as Hollywood variations. The music in the films gave Arab films a distinct identity to both Arab and international audience. In addition, music perpetuated the popular Arab culture of connecting songs and language. The connection resulted in vocal interpretation in films and became a commercial mechanism for Arab cinemas. Work CitedShafik, Viola. Arab Cinema. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 1998. Print.