EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK/ELIE CHALALA

Director Chahine's Latest Takes New, Romantic Turn

Like many of his previous films, Youssef Chahine's most recent, "Sukkout Hansawwar" (Silence, We're Shooting), has been the subject of much discussion and speculation, particularly about his apparent abandonment of realism, the autobiographical, the political, and the intellectual. Critics wonder if he has favored the sensational and purely entertaining, but the 74 year old Chahine dismisses most criticisms and has a new take on his latest.

"Silence, We're Shooting," Chahine's 38th film, received a generous allotment of publicity during its two-year production. The publicity stemmed from Chahine's heart problems, which sent him to the hospital several times, visits that required critical medical procedures. Although some critics see "Silence, We're Shooting" as a complete departure from autobiography, one of the film characters, a director played by Zaki Fatin Abd al-Wahhab, most likely plays Chahine himself. For this film, Chahine relinquished his role as just a director to leave time for other aspects of production. He even wrote the music for one of the film's songs, performed by the Tunisian singer Latifa, who plays one of the film's three major heroines.

Some critics theorize that the film is about all things beautiful, happiness, joy, love of cinema, as well as the appreciation of great masters in other arts, all in relationship to Chahine and what they have meant to him.

Certainly, this film distinguishes itself from Chahine's "The Land" (1969), "The Immigrant" (1994), "The Destiny" (1997), "The Other" (1999) or even his "Alexandria Trilogy" (1979-1989). It falls within a category the critics refer to as romantic-musical-comedy and which Chahine himself categorizes as comedy-musical-dramatic.

The plot of the film is quite simple and represents life in today's Egypt, following a tale of romance, deceit, and exploitation. The story centers around three main characters: the astute and wealthy bourgeois grandmother (played by Majida al-Khatib); the mother, Malak (played by the Tunisian singer Latifa); and the granddaughter, Paula (played by a new face, Ruby).       

As the film begins, the mother is married to a lawyer (Ahmed Mehrez), who is quite busy, overly conscious of his bourgeois roots, and has little time for his wife. He subsequently leaves Malak for another woman, an event that strikes at the mother's womanhood and self-esteem.   After her divorce, Malak lives in a constant state of anxiety over whether people truly love her or want her only for her fame and wealth. This fragile state of mind allowed her to fall in love with a swindler and gigolo named Lami (played by Ahmed Wafic). He is the product of the globalism, a materialist who seeks nothing but fun and his own personal interest with a goal of getting rich quickly through deceit. As the film continues, Malaks' friend Alfi, a scriptwriter (played by Ahmed Badir) attempts to rescue her from Lami.   Alfi lies to Lami by saying that the grandmother has left everything to Paula, prompting Lami to pursue the granddaughter, using the same methods he used earlier on her mother. Finally, he is discovered and exposed. In the meantime, Paula has become involved with the son of the family's driver, Nasser (played by Mustafa Shabaan), a representative extension of Gamal Abd Nasser's generation with its great pan-Arabist dreams.

Chahine was immediately put on the stand by critics who wanted to know why he would make a romantic - or any non-intellectual - film, a discussion that extended to the question of why romantic films have been absent for some time in Arab cinema. As Chahine explains in an interview with the Lebanese As Safir, a corrupt or decadent climate negates romanticism; it is difficult to have romantic films in a morally corrupt environment where   "beauty"   is directly related to how much money one has. He did not shy away from mentioning cost, citing "Silence, We're Shooting" as an example. When critics asked him if he was seeking a reconciliation between classes derived from this attempt to bring together romantically members of different social backgrounds in   "Silence, We're Shooting," Chahine answered negatively, repeating an earlier observation that the laws in Egypt still make the rich richer and the poor poorer.

Chahine also seems to dismiss the notion that "Silence, We're Shooting" aims at making people laugh. Sheer "gross jokes," he says, cannot make people laugh, for to laugh one must have inner happiness, something apparently missing in a "decadent climate."

The role of the grandmother, played by Majida al-Khatib had received unanimous praise;   some critics have called it her greatest role ever. Latifa, as Malak the mother, did not impress with her acting skills, although she received kudos for her singing.

Questions about this new venture of producing a film that combines music and dance surround Chahine whenever he goes. During a premiere of his film in Lebanon, An Nahar newspaper asked him if   "Silence, We're Shooting" is a tribute or a farewell to the musical cinema. Chahine's answer was that it is neither: "It is a tribute to my cinematic craft."

This article appeared in Al Jadid magazine, Vol. 7, No. 36 (Summer 2001)

Copyright (c) 2001 by Al Jadid