This Egyptian film is from female director Asmaa
El-Bakry who has a wonderful eye for an older Cairo that has disappeared
with time, changing fashions and religious fundamentalism. I started reading
the first in the Cairo Trilogy (1957) by author Naguib Mahfouz and find it
fascinating. It takes place in the 1920's and is a portrayal of a well-to-do
strict religious family in a changing world. It put me in the mood for this
film though this is set in 1945 as news of the Allies entering Germany comes
over the radio. The film ends as news of Hiroshima shocks everyone. One bomb
that could destroy an entire city. The director focuses on a small
neighborhood in an old poor area where few have any money to spare and what
they do goes for cigarettes and coffee.
Everyone walking down the street is invited by someone to sit in the open-air
cafes for coffee or tea to talk about their difficulties. The men nearly
all wear red fezzes, puffing on a cigarette as if the end of the world is
coming and they want every puff they can get, some men puffing on their hookah's,
the women are rarely seen outdoors unless they are on the street in front
of their home washing laundry in large pots. At times the camera lyrically
pans a montage of the people and area just for the glimpses into people's
lives. This was Asmaa's debut feature film though she had directed a number
of documentaries about history and culture. She brings That sensibility to
this film.
Amina (Lola Mohamed) is getting her girls ready for a day out for prayer.
She is a very large woman with make-up packed on with a trowel. She needs
to be pushed into the waiting carriage as the rag man laughs at her. Everyone
knows Amina's place. It is like Cheers. Everyone knows your name and is welcomed
in with a hug. The difference being this is the neighborhood brothel with
Amina and her four working girls. Men come in shyly but once inside they
relax as they drink, smoke, watch a girl dance, flirt with the women and
on occasion disappear with her into a bedroom. After the women leave for
the day only one woman is left behind and she opens the door to Gohar, called
the Professor by most people. He had been a lecturer at a university until
he chucked it for freedom. Freedom being a life with little money but no
worries. He lives in a room as bare as a newborn baby with peeling walls
and a small table. He gathers newspapers at night - not to read but to be
his mattress. Earlier in the morning he had been woken up by water floating
under the bottom of his door - ablutions for a dead man down the hall. Down
the other way is a man with no arms or legs who is constantly yelled at by
his wife out of jealousy. He tells Gohar that he will divorce her and marry
a virgin.
Gohar goes looking for his friend Yeghen (Ahmad Adam) and is told he is at
Amina's. Ablutions and bad information lead to tragedy. Gohar writes a letter
for the woman left behind and then she tries to bring him into bed. He strangles
her to death. He has no idea why. A moment of insanity. The police (Abdulaziz
Makhyoon) are brought in with his bright red fez and spick and span uniform.
He begins an investigation that is mainly talk but also a few smacks across
the face. He has his secret too - he is gay, in love with a man who doesn't
return his affection. The real star of the film though is this tiny insignificant
piece of Cairo - the winding streets, the alleyways stuffed with life, the
good times at the brothel, the cafes, the rundown buildings but people make
do with the small comforts and pleasures in life. Coffee, cigarettes and
conversations with friends.
Fyi - the fez which is so prominent in this film was around since the 1400's
but later was popularized by the Ottomans. In 1826 the Turkish Sultan forbid
the turban and made it mandatory for government employees to wear the fez.
This spread throughout the Empire which included Egypt. In 1928 Ataturk banned
the fez as being part of old Turkey and Nassar did the same in Egypt in 1958.
I kind of like the look of the fez. I wonder how I would look.
