Princess Aziza: Another Egyptian Film

June 12, 2006

We got through another Egyptian film a few nights ago. This was another early one.. from 1960, starring Soad Hosni. The plot involves a teacher who moves into a new apartment, right next to a beautiful girl with a fanatically jealous brother. After trying to steer clear, the teacher strikes up a dangerous relationship.. and then has to convince the bullying brother to let him marry his sister. Even after the marriage, there are still problems, as the brother refuses to relinquish his sister's rightful inheritance.. and she in turn refuses to sleep with her new husband until he stands up to her brother.

The pleasure in this film comes from the cultural details which infuse the film with something like a loving nationalism. There is no attempt to make life seem "American".. there is rather the employment of classical Hollywood techniques to render a world of which Egyptians were quite fond. My favorite scene was the one where the "Chief" (the brother) comes back to his home after time in prison.. and the whole neighborhood is celebrating. It is a vibrant portrait of community in small urban neighborhoods. The ending brings with it a fair amount of cultural shock, as the unassuming teacher has to push around his wife and literally beat up her brother.. and then the rebellious new wife slinks back to the house to be obedient: he has shown he can act like a man. But these are the kinds of cultural details which make the film more interesting to watch than an American Hollywood classic.. there is always a motivation that one did not suspect.

What I find myself wishing for in Egyptian film is a little more artistic ambition.. to cross into some territory that is really challenging. That is, I am asking for the director to step forward as an author. But that may be the secret here: this is a successful national studio system which did not breed Truffaut or Fellini, but which did produce a sizeable wave of triumphantly Egyptian films. The creative spark was kept employed for nationalistic purposes..