"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.
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| Fatma on the roof telling the story |
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 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.
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| Fatma and her brother Galal |
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 truth came out gradually with the daylight.
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.
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| Fatma and Sayed in the courthouse after the sentence |
