The night of arresting Fatma..

"A right that is demanded is never lost". These were the last words Fatma said that ended the movie with Khairat's music in the background… this scene just took me inside it to the extent that I kept crying with her as if I'm in her place..

"Leilet al quabd ala Fatma" is an Egyptian movie; produced by Tara Film in 1984, directed by Henry Barakat, casting Faten Hamama as Fatma, Shoukry Sarhan as Sayed, and Salah Qabil as Galal. It's taken from a story by Skina Fo'aad, the scenario is written by Abdel Rahman Fahmy, and the music by Omar Khairat.

The story of the movie is about Fatma the elder sister whom her mother died leaving behind two young toddlers; Galal and Nefisa, Fatma's brother and sister and she takes the responsibility of raising them.

Sayed, Fatma's fiancé keeps asking her hand for marriage and to travel with him abroad for work, but she refuses and stays here to take care of her brother and sister. When he comes back he repeats his offer to marry her and she accepts, but he gets into the prison because of the claims of having drugs.

Fatma on the roof telling the story

On the other side, Galal; Fatma's brother, leaves school and finds his own way to make money and achieve his false heroic stories, until he goes into the game of politics and represent his town in the people's assembly.

When Sayed gets out of prison to marry Fatma, Galal threats him by prison again if he marries his elder sister. So, Fatma keeps telling people in their town about his frauds, and the illegal way he took to reach his political position.

Galal claims that Fatma is crazy and sends people to arrest her and put her in a mad house, but she knows his plan. So she stands on the roof and threats them by throwing herself from the roof. People gather, and then she starts telling Galal's true story.

The movie is a normal story of a devoted sister and an ungrateful brother, but it has a very deep political reflection. It describes Egypt in the era of 1952's revolution, 1956's war and the changes that happened after the British left the country, the politicians that came out of the blue without knowing their right backgrounds.

Fatma represents Egypt, Galal is the fraud who made use of the war to his favor, Sayed is the typical citizen who keeps working to achieve a good life but this life he wished for never happened because of the problems he goes through.

Fatma and her brother Galal

The movie defends the idea of keep calling for the right thing, and demanding rights despite the injustice that may happen; today you're a loser, tomorrow you're victorious. Just keep seeking the truth… always!

The whole movie is a flashback except for the parts of Fatma's narration. There is a really good use of lighting parallel to the flow of the story. At the beginning of Fatma's narration on the roof; it's still dark before she uncovers the truth, then by the end of her narration and everyone now knows the fact about her brother, it's about midday, when daylight is in its extreme.
The truth came out gradually with the daylight.

The music of the movie is composed by Omar Khairat. The music is the most amazing thing about the movie, as it really describes the feeling of the movie; injustice, ungratefulness, love, all these conflicts are felt in the soundtrack. This soundtrack also made a huge success then when the movie came into cinemas. 

I think this is one of the most amazing movies ever! I must say that Shoukry Sarhan's performance is great. He really deserves his award for best actor for this role. If someone is interested in classics I'd really recommend this movie for them. It's unique.

Fatma and Sayed in the courthouse after the sentence

A well representation for the 18th Century

Joseph Andrews is a novel written by Henry Fielding. This novel was written in the 18^th century which is “the age of enlightenment”. This age called the age of reason because people started to think, question, and find a reason for everything in their life. This age was the greatest age in Europe and England in specific, but, it faced a lot of changes in life in England, and morality, and faced some criticisms.

"Joseph Andrews" reflects the rare force and realism, faults of mankind, morals, and the social ills that appeared in the 18^th century in the British society in a satirical way. We are confronted with a chameleonic society that frequently changes its appearance to satisfy personal lusts of various kinds. It depicts human beings in various shades of vanity, hypocrisy and narcissism. Here, Fielding becomes a spokesman of his age and seeks to come out strongly against the affected behavior of the aristocratic society. Fielding's picture of the English social life is reinforced by the large canvas of representatives selected from every facets of society.

The sensuality of women is reflected at its best through the representatives like Lady Booby, Mrs. Slipslop and Betty. Lady Booby feels greatly attracted by Joseph's manliness and personality and seeks in vain to evoke his sexual response to gratify her sensual appetite. Mrs. Slipslop also follows her mistress' path and tries to win Joseph as a lover. Even Betty, the sympathetic maid also falls in love with Joseph and seeks in vain to have sexual gratification from him. All these amorous intentions show a fair picture of the amoral side of the 18th century society.

The society that Fielding pictures in Joseph Andrews is extremely inhuman, indifferent, uncharitable and narcissistic. The insensitive hardness of this society is clearly exposed in the stagecoach part. The passengers, who are unwilling to allow Joseph into the coach on various excuses, show up their selfish and artificial mentality. At that time Joseph was in a pitiable condition; he was badly wounded and was almost naked. Some passengers show some sympathy for him but decline to spare him a garment to cover his naked body. The only person who shows some genuine heartfelt sympathy is the poor coachman, who offers his own coat to the wretched fellow. This shows the contrast between the attitude of the rich passengers and that of the poor coachman. Fielding tries to show us that there is a greater spirit of charity in the poor than in the rich. 

 

Fielding also provides some glimpses of the chaotic, greedy, and insincere sides of the 18th century society. For example, the squire who is fond of hunting hares tries to satisfy his lustful desire for Fanny taking advantages of her poor condition. Human greed is exposed by the characters of the surgeons and the clergymen. The surgeons were extremely selfish and money minded. They refused to treat patients who were unable to pay fees. The clergymen of the time were the most selfish and materialistic. Justice Frolick, for instance, goes out of his way to send Joseph and Fanny to prison, only to satisfy a whim of Lady Booby.

In Conclusion, Joseph Andrews is a fine social document that represents an inclusive picture of the 18the century English society. The novel directs its satire not only against particular individuals but also against the follies and vices of the entire society.

"When hope can grab a man insane"

I still remember the first time I watched the movie for the very first time. I think I was 13 or 14 year old, but I can't forget the scene when "Andy" was escaping from prison, and he was waiting for thunder to strike so he can hit this cylinder and find his way out. Years pass and I couldn't remember the name of this movie, 5 years again pass and I watch "The Shawshank Redemption" by accident.

"The Shawshank Redemption" is a long American movie that was produced in 1994 by Niki Marvin and directed by Frank Darabont. It's based on a Stephen King novel "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption", Starring Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne, Morgan Freeman as Red, Bob Gunton as William Sadler as and music by Thomas Newman.

The movie came out with the lowest budget in the history of American cinema, and it has the highest rate on the IMDb website, although it didn't achieve much when it comes to the box office. Surprisingly, it's the only movie with no cinematic mistakes –not even one.

 Andy Dufresne the banker is accused of killing his wife and her lover. Despite the claims of being innocent, he got sentenced to life in the shawshank redemption where he meets Red and become friends.  Andy suffers from being bullied until his relationships strengthened with the prison officials and tells them about means to avoid paying many taxes.

Andy knows that he's innocent, so he spends twenty years planning to escape by digging a tunnel in the wall. Although new evidences proves Andy's innocence, the prison director hide them and kill the witness so Andy keeps his taxes records under control, so he takes his plan to escape into action.

The settings of the movie are in a prison most of the time. The time interval is between 1930's and 1950's. The mise en scene is suitable for the theme of the movie; the lighting too is terrific throughout the whole movie. The movie was shot in the early 1990's in Ohayo.

As for cinematography, the cinematographer is the genius Roger Deakins. He used all his genius tools to make a piece of art out of a typical story. He used the right angles to make frames in consistency with each others, also repeating the same frames in order to show how time changes one's personality, and this appears by comparing the frames of the scenes when Morgan Freeman meet the committee in order to release him.

 

One of Thomas Newman's best music pieces ever is the musical theme of this movie. The music is so classical and classy, it mainly reflects Andy's personality; as he is different and unique although his misfortune with his marriage and his imprisonment. 

The movie is mainly based on the narration with the voice over of Red telling the story of his friend. The voice over of Morgan Freeman, the amazing cinematography and the musical background makes you feel like you are standing in front of a classical painting in the Louvre with a Bach's music in the background.  

 I think The Shawshank Redemption is a reflection for reality; every one of us is living in their own redemption, either a place or a job or a couple. It's all the things we get attached to and lock ourselves in, so when they change or leave life never returns the same again.

Only 90's kids miss it..

53 Years of "My name is Bond.. James Bond"

مأساة كلبة الإسكندرية

 كيف يمكن لإنسان طبيعي يملك عقلاً ميزه الله به عن سائر الكائنات و قلباً ليقرب بين ما حوله و عقله، أن يفعل ما ينافي إمتلاكه لكل ذلك. كيف يمكن لشخص عاقل أن بقتل بعض الجراء الذين لا حول لهم ولا قوة بدم بارد، و بطريقة بشعة مخلفاً وراءه مأساة موجعة القلب.

حادثة بسيطة قد تحدث في أي شارع من شوارع الدنيا، كلبة ضالة تلد بجانب أحد البيوت في منطقة كليوباترا بالأسكندرية. يحنو عليها اهالي الشارع بالطعام لها و لجرائها. أصبحت جزء من الشارع و إعتاد الناس على وجودها و لم تشكل خطرعلى أحد قط.. فإذا بأحد سكان الشارع ينهال على الجراء المسكينة بعصاه مسلحة بالمسامير حتى يققضي عليهم كلهم.

نظرة الإمتنان التي تعتلي وجه الكلبة

إنتشرت قصة تلك الكلبة و جراءها على صفحات التواصل الإجتماعي، و إذا بهذه الكلبة تجد طريقها للخروج من هذا الجحيم إلى متبنيين لها من كندا، و هي الآن تم نقلها إلى القاهرة لإنجاز إجراءات سفرها إلى كندا.

تاريخ سيد درويش بين الزمن و الإهمال

 كان ذلك أحد أيام الجمعة، جمعة مشمسة تجعلك تريد البقاء في الشارع طوال اليوم. كنت أمشي في أحد شوارع منطقة وسط البلد أمامي منطقة محطة الرمل و على يساري أطلال المسرح الروماني و على يميني أحد المداخل لمنطقة كوم الدكة. دخلت حيث شارع سيد درويش. وجدت بيت قديم ذو طلاء أخضر في حالة ليست بسيئة جدا ظناً أن ذلك البيت هو  بيت الشيخ سيد درويش، و لكن للأسف.. يا ليته كلن بيته.. فالواقع أسوأ.

وجدني أحد المارة أقف في حيرة من أمري و أحمل الكاميرا فسألني "أؤمري يا أستاذة.. حضرتك محتاجة حاجة؟" فأجبته بنعم، "إنني أبحث عن منزل الشيخ سيد درويش أهذا هو؟" مشيرة إلى المنزل الأخضر، فأجابني بلا ووصف لي كيف أصل للبيت المطلوب. كان وصفه للطريق سهل جداً (عكس ما وجدت)، و لكنه إستشعر قلقي من الدخول إلى المنطقة.. فقال لي "تعالي يا أستاذة متخافيش".

إتبعته في صمت تام و أخذنا ندخل في دهاليز كوم الدكة، نقف عند كل ساحة و يسأل "يا فلان هو فين بيت السيد درويش؟". يأخذ إجابته و نكمل في طريقنا، و مع تقدمنا نجد ان الشوارق تضيق شيئاً فشيئاً.. حتى وصلنا إلى وجهتنا. بعض البيوت العتيقة شبه المهدمة، فسألنا أي فيهم هو بيت الشيخ سيد، فوجدنا بيت مهدم بالكامل، محاوط بحائط بني حديثاً و أمامه بعض الأخشاب.. فبالطبع لم نرى شيئاً.

إستأذنا سكان أحد البيوت المجاورة لإستخدام سطح البيت لنرى ما خلف السور، فوجدنا "خرابة". أصبح المكان الذي لحنت فيه "انا هوبت و إنتهيت" إلى مقلب زبالة! لقد تحول منزل الشيخ سيد درويش إلى مقر نفايات المنطقة المحيطة. سألتهم "كيف يمكن أن يتحول بيت أحد عباقرة الموسيقى إلى هذا الوضع المذري؟" كانت الإجابات "حضرتك البيت قديم قوي و الورثة خلاص مش مهتمين بيه" فأردفت "كيف ذلك؟ ماذا عن حفيده الفنان إيمان البحر درويش؟" فكانت الإجابات واحدة "و هو ماله.. هو عايش في القاهرة و البيت مش مهم بالنسبة له.. البيت مش ملكه خلاص ده تبع الآثار عشان عدى عليه 100 سنة".

إذا آلامت الصورة أحد، فالواقع أسوأ بكثير.. و يبقى السؤال.. أين المجلس الأعلى للآثار؟ أين محافظ الإسكندرية؟ أين العقول النابغة لإستثمار مصدر جذب للسياحة السكندرية؟