History of Egyptian Cinema - Movie Review Example

History Of Egyptian Cinema Egypt is a land of immense travel stories, a land of beauty, and THE land of pyramids. Cairo the capital of the country is host to many cultural and social events that mark the glory of the historical Egyptian culture that has come down through generations. The history of Egyptian cinema is in no way devoid of the many colors of the country’s culture (Darwish, 1998, p.31). In fact, even though the land has seen innumerable number of wars and trysts with political enemies, cinema, an art that defines the cultural aspects of a nation has thrived and grown, with significant additions coming in every day. Egyptian Cinema So, how effective has been the growth of cinema in the country? We may understand the various aspects of Egyptian cinema if we take into consideration a single film that holds historical importance in this case. In this study we take the case of a movie released in 2006 namely, Awkat Faragh (Free Times). This movie came as shocker to the conservative cultures of Egyptian movie goers who were treated to the harsh reality of living in a society whose youth does not know how to strike the right balance in life. The story is a combination of reality and drama in which all the characters are portrayed to be products of mass culture and whose individual journeys are simultaneously shown in the movie. Although interesting, masses found it extremely disturbing as it portrayed the indiscipline found in the youth and the sexual inclination that drove their instincts and decisions in social behavior. However, if one has to understand the growth of cinema history through this movie, we will have to take a walk down memory lane. To begin with, like every cinema industry, Egyptian movies and their stars have been bitten and plagued by the poison of stardom that ultimately not only defines, ruins or makes the career of the stars involved, but also creates new trends in movie literature, which h when closely observed leads to history. In her epic book, ‘Stardom: Industry of Desire’, Christine Gledhill correctly charts this vicious circle wherein the dominance of a star studded life ruins the balance in personal lifestyle of one person or many people. This particular movie sought to share similar aspects of forgotten lifestyle values that lead to social and personal downfall. The situation of a star is similar to that of the youngsters portrayed in the movie Awkat Faragh (2006). And like every promising star, this movie came as a breakthrough in the history of Egyptian Cinema which was dwindling at that point in time, gaining the industry scope for international recognition (Ginsberg & Lippard, 2010, p.345) for popular projects, something that only art films had acquired till then. So, what are the main elements in the movie which relate to the historical aspects of Egyptian Cinema and also the rise and fall of a star? Alternatively, does Egyptian cinema’s history get ample portrayal in this movie, either in a direct or an indirect way? We attempt to study all these factors in our analysis of the movie. Main Pointers Of The Story And Character Depiction In Awkat Faragh This movie depicts a lead couple and their friends in the midst of the changing society in Egypt. While it shows a complete journey of the main protagonists, we find immense cinematic drama unraveling before our eyes on the screen. To begin with, there are four major aspects in the story used in this film. It had social stigmas crying out loud at the shamelessness and the boldness of present youth. The characters are found challenging the existing social norms, with a revolutionary outlook that kept the audiences hooked to the truth in their appeals. The audiences immediately related to this changing factor that they were witnessing in the society (Shafik (b), 2007, p.143). Secondly, it had clear indications of the growing lust in the underbelly of the so called conservative lifestyle that Egyptians were said to follow. While everybody knows that the Nasser government almost changed the way the country was functioning, it also led to inbuilt frustration amongst the youth, which did not show at that point in time, but revealed itself in due course of time, enough importantly to be projected in this movie. Thirdly, the movie challenged the power of the government through its scenes and dialogues. The sarcasm prone to the disbalanced youth is what takes over from the intelligent remarks of the so-called well informed characters of the movie (Ginsberg & Lippard, 2010, p.267). And in most cases, this sarcasm strikes gold with the audience, since they can relate to the social and political issues that it was pointing at. Fourthly, there was this unique trend that the movie set with youngsters of that year. It was almost familiar to the use of a signature style by a star to mark his entry or exit in any social, political, or family situation. The only difference was that the trend here was set for all common people, thus turning them into temporary stars. These factors included fashion, make-up, and lifestyle trends. Similarities With A Star’s Journey: Awkat Faragh (2006) is a swansong to a star’s downfall. We do not mean to say that one of the stars in the movie actually saw downfall in his life soon after the movie’s success bogged down. Instead, we find comparable aspects of how the four main features of the film actually resonate with the story or journey of a star in the film fraternity. Every star rises with the help of talent and luck, but falls prey to the commercial and social aspects of leading top order lifestyles. He or she is required to challenge existing social stigmas and raise above dictums of morality and right conduct to be able to embrace the power of money and stardom. While the journey is not easy, it leaves many of the star’s family and friends grieving that the norms they have grown respecting are being broken. In due course of time, the star begins to invite desire, luxury, lust, and individualism in his or her life. This is quite true for every person who has embraced stardom and is often termed as a direct derivative of the depression out of frustration that the star faces in personal and social life, owing to the ups and downs in his career, some of which is politically instigated. Stardom empowers the hero or the heroine to challenge the decisions of the government, whether it is on celluloid or in real life. Just like how actors take in more challenging roles in due course of their career some of which throw sarcasm on the face of the government. Even when going through a low phase, the star still lingers on in the common man’s memory and this leads to trends centered around the star. Similarities With The History Of Egyptian Cinema Egyptian cinema has seen ups and downs in due course of time and until Awkat Faragh happened, not many film critics were hopeful of the movie industry growing to explore its society’s reality. And the journey of the industry had not been different from Awkat Faragh’s (2006) storyline in any way. While it fell into the hands of the Nasser government through Nationalize and almost experienced death in the formula movies being created in that era, the need to bring in change kept the newer generation trying to break the existing social and political dictates. As a result, by 1970, Egyptian cinema saw some great movie action happening in its history, in the form of commercially successful films like Khalli Balak min Zouzou (1972), a film that brought in balance between political and creative intelligences operating within Egyptian cinema till then. After this breakthrough, however, creativity once again lost its perspective to the dominance of contractor movies, that which relied on low creativity and focused on money making tactics alone. While the 1972 film led trends in fashion, music, and dance, the films that came after it failed to create an equal impact. The popular film category received its next boom only as late as 1997, wherein a comedy starring Mohammed Saad broke all previous records and brought new life into the story of creative intelligence pouring into Egyptian cinema (Shafik (b), 2007, p.335). Thus, we find that the four main aspects of living that we find in Awkat Faragh (2006) are present in not just a star’s life, but also in the history of Egyptian cinema. The Nasser dominance, the outbreak and revolution, the subdued frustration and underperformance from therein, and the trend setting norms of every cinema that experienced success, is seen in the history of Egyptian movie making. Conclusion: This study reveals that although the history of Egyptian cinema cannot be studied completely by keeping one movie in mind, we still can find relevant analogies in the movie Awkat Faragh (2006), which is a social depiction of the downfall of youth in society, and has all the elements in it that are responsible for the downfall and uprise of an industry (Shafik (a), 2007,p. 45), a star (Gledhill, 2004, p.13), and a society. Thus, Egyptian cinema resonates with the social stature of the country, and Awkat Faragh (2006) came as a bright beacon of hope to the international movie maker and the youth of the society in representing societal truth, just as it was. No doubt the movie led to many new directors and producers taking new risks and exploring cinematic areas that weren’t discovered in Egyptian cinema till then. And this has had a positive societal influence, till now. References Darwish, M. (1998). Dream makers on the Nile: a portrait of Egyptian Cinema. Michigan: The American University in Cairo. 43 pages. Ginsberg, T. & Lippard, C. (2010). Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema. Maryland: Scarecrow Press. 592 pages. Gledhill, C. (2003). “Stardom: Industry of Desire” (ed.). London: Routledge. Shafik (a), V. (2007). Arab Cinema: History and Cultural Identity, Cairo: American University in Cairo Press. 311 pages. Shafik (b), V. (2007). Popular Egyptian Cinema: gender, class, and nation. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. 349 pages. Read More