Gender Roles within Egyptian Cinema

The film “Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story” follows the story of married couple Hebba and Karim. Hebba works as a local reporter for a small television station, while Karim works for the government as one of the main editors. Karim is about to get a promotion, according to one of his colleagues who said he “saw it in a dream” (Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story). The story between both Hebba and Karim create the ultimate theme in the movie, of feminism trying to prevail past the bars of men and their personal greed. 

Specifically in Egyptian cinema, women have been called “feminists” (Shafik, Popular Egyptian Cinema); this certianly rings true for Hebba in the film. As she becomes a more experienced reporter, she begins to feel more and more comfortable about what she is reporting on, and she begins to develop her own means and aspirations. This contrasts heavily to other Arabic film, where women usually seem much more meek and powerless. Interestingly, Yousry plays up the power of women by showing Hebba’s resistance to the oncoming of Karim. He feels threatened by her work, as it would cause him to lose the promotion if she was to finsiher her work. Consistently, Hebba is able to focous on her own work without being persuaded, a message from the director on the increase of feminism in Egypt.

The fear of “female autonomy” seems to drive men within the film, as they consistently makes power moves to try and show dominance (New York Times). For example, three women are forced to fight for the love of one man, who turns out to be a traitor to all of the women; yet it seems as if he still has the power due to the noticeable superiority complex within the film. Therefore, this brings up another important message from the director: yes, feminism is healthy and women deserve the right to not be condescended upon; however, many are still forced into submission by men.

In the trailer for the movie, the conflicting gender roles are shown in a clearer context, as the entire trailer seems fixated upon different settings with men fighting against women. The trailer depicts the conflict that women go through, many being physically beaten and distraught; yet, Yousry Nasrallah somehow intertwines this violence and hatred with social justice at the climax at the movie that makes it feel as if Egyptian women are on the right track.

Overall, the role of women in Egyptian and Arabic cinema as a whole certainly is evolving. Shafik states that Egyptian film tends to be more advanced with the development of women, due to the countries own advancement with film industry (Shafik, History of Arab Cinema). To Nasrallah, women are just getting started with their transition to a higher power in society.

Works Cited

Catsoulis, Jeannette. “A TV Host seeks Fluff, but Real Life Intrudes”. New York Times. Web.

Dec 7, 2015.

Scheherazade Tell Me a Story. Dir. Yousry Nasrallah. Perf. Mona Zaki. 2009. Film.

Shafik, Viola. “The History of Arab Cinema.” Arab Cinema: History and Cultural Identity.

Meiffabudhabi. “Scheherazade, Tell Me A Story Trailer”. http://www.youtube.com. Web. Dec 7,

2015.

Shafik, Viola. “Popular Egyptian Cinema.” Gender, Class and Nation.

 

 

Violence Through Expression: The Tornado

       The Tornado, completed in 1992 by director Samir Habchi, follows a man named Akram who is visiting Beirut and his mother from the USSR. He decides to make this journey to Beirut after receiving news of a car bombing in the Lebanese city, tugging at his emotions for his family. With the city turning to ruin over civil war, Akram gets caught in the middle and begins to question whether or not he will survive the journey. The perilous situations displayed within The Tornado prove to display a powerful message of domestic violence and suffering, obviously meant to be the expression of Samir Habchi himself. Indeed, the film follows a narrative; however, this narrative is somewhat wavering, constantly intertwined with masterclass elements of expression. Through these cinematic elements such as dreams and surrealism, Habchi makes a valid attempt at describing the struggle of the Lebanese people as individuals and as a society.

       Habchi utilizes dreams in order to juxtapose ideas of peace and war, alongside other elements such as flashbacks to infuse lucidity alongside surrealism to his overall pacifistic message. Throughout the film, Akram has multiple nightmares. In each endeavor, Akram ends up mortally wounded, only to awaken and be perfectly fine; or so it seems. In fact, the reason for the use of dreams surely relates to the idea that the civil war in Beirut is inescapable, a prison in which the ethically correct suffer and violence blossoms. Even when awaking from the terrors of his nightmares, Akram must face “car bombs, ambushes, and arbitrary executions” (IMBD). While dreams are usually a place of peace, rest, and happiness, Habchi morphs them into violent encounters. Even when Akram ‘escapes’ the death and sorrow by waking, he is kept in an endless cocoon of despair by his actual surroundings, and even “driving down the street” (IMBD) could mean death for Akram. This unusual juxtaposition also carries weight with the element of flashback, used in the film in the same way as sleeping and waking. During the film, there is a flashback Akram has of him being in a car with two other men. While usually Akram would think of his times in the USSR “studying art” (The Tornado), this instead only brings about death and suffering. The constant emotional up and down throughout the film shows Habchi’s attempt to display the idea that death felt inescapable, and hope was diminished to a simmer during the times of civil war in Beirut (Zisser).

       Furthermore, in addition to elements of dreams and flashbacks, Habchi compounds upon his fanciful approach to this film through his use of surrealism. Through his surreal scenes, Habchi addresses the issues of senseless violence in the Lebanese society by creating scenes of mass carnage (such as the car bombing at the beginning of the film) to symbolize a much larger issue of violence within the society. Another this instance of this surreal rhetoric is when Habchi paints a scene of blood raining down from the sky as Akram falls to his knees upon a hilltop, which clearly portrays the overwhelming nature of violence within the Lebanese society. To this end, Habchi employs a “narrative  [which is] barely coherent, jumping from the student to fringe characters…and the minimal dialogue prevents us from deciphering any motivation” (Shen). By employing this series of disorienting factors in The Tornado, Habchi clearly paints a surrealist film which imerses the audience in the fear and violence that is inherent in the Lebanese society, particularly as a product of the Civil War.

       Overall, Habchi creates a sorrowful message of death and pain through the use of dreaming and waking, flashbacks, and surrealism. The people of Beirut are torn, and innocents are killed everyday in horrific incidents. This is consistent with the image of Lebanon that Habchi aims to create in The Tornado, as it has been said that he “[displays] the war as a profanity” (Khatib). In fact, what may seem to be the only way to escape the horrors–the realm of surrealism and dreams– actually turns out to be a just as horrific environment, with Akram dying many times and even blood pouring onto him from the sky. As Lebanon turns to turmoil, Akram feels disheartened and trapped, and loses a part of himself as he tries to simply survive the everyday horror of Beirut within their civil war.

Works Cited

Khatib, Lina. Lebanese Cinema Imagining the Civil War and beyond. London: I.B. Tauris,

2008. Print.

Shen, Ted. “The Tornado.” Chicago Reader. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.

<http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-tornado/Film?oid=1071820&gt;. Web.

The Tornado. IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 19 Oct. 2015. Web.

Zisser, Eyal. “Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990).” The Encyclopedia of War (2011). Print.