Watching Omar Sherif:
A Man in Our House

June 4, 2006

Under Emily's influence I have been a bit more exploratory of late when it comes to contemporary Egyptian things.. and one result has been a viewing of this gem from 1961. Watching it is a bit awkward, however, as it captures Egypt at a point when it is optimistic and proud of its recent past. The central character of the story is Ibrahim Hamdy (Omar Sherif), who is an anti-government insurgent taking part in protests and then assassinating an important official.. the rest of the movie is concerned with his relationship to an ordinary Egyptian family with whom he finds refuge after his escape from custody. Two members of this family, the student Mohie and his cousin Abdel Hamid are arrested (correctly) by the government on suspicion of aiding the fugitive.. and are subjected to some tortures that must have looked harsh, but which look mild compared to the things we have read about in the last few years.

It is an awkward view since items like this run in the papers now:

In one case on May 25, the Associated Press saw more than a dozen plainclothes police grab a protester, Mohammed Sharkawy, 24, as he walked away from a fading demonstration in which he had silently held up a placard saying "I want my rights back."

The police punched and kicked Sharkawy in the street before taking him to a police station. That night Sharkawy was allegedly sexually assaulted in the police station, and another protester, Karim El-Shaer, was assaulted in a second police station, according to a statement made by their lawyer the next day. ["Nazif blames protesters for police violence, saying activists attacked the police", no byline given, in The Daily Star, an insert in the International Herald Tribune]

These demonstrations are in response to the rebellion of members of the Judges Club who are fighting for an independent judiciary. A second awkward piece of news is the hunting of individuals thought to be behind the bombings in Sinai.. the papers a couple of weeks ago featured their faces, some of the pictures obviously taken after they had been roughed up a bit.

The Egyptian government is taking a pretty stern view both of protesters and fugitives connected to violent acts.. Yet this movie is unrelentingly positive about both of these elements. The pre-revolutionary government is portrayed as out of touch with the people.. and certainly uncaring about their rights or the niceties of law.. and that is what legitimizes the actions of a hero such as Ibrahim Hamdy, who leads protests, kills an official, lives as a fugitive, and finally carries out an attack on a military installation.. in which he finally dies.. yet still gains the favor and help of an ordinary Egyptian family. There was so much optimism in the air in Egypt in 1961 that it seemed inconceivable an Egyptian government would do anything similar.. that someone could carry around a placard reading "I want my rights back."