On Hiya Fawda

By Kole Redwood

The film Hiya Fawda, a title that is translated to “Chaos” from Arabic, is a film that was directed by Egyptian directors Youssef Chahine and Khaled Youssef, and is an Egyptian melodramatic film commentating on the political state of Egypt. It specifically takes its time to commentate on the political corruption that is often seen in the country. The film takes a long and detailed look into the political corruption that is common throughout the country. Especially since the film makes a bold choice by deciding to have a major focus person with the power, who the audience watches slowly become more and more corrupted and in turn, power hungry and watch the character slowly delve into madness because of the effect of so much power has done on his mindset.

The film takes a detailed look into the mindset of the character Hatem, who starts out as an already corrupt political leader. The audience watches as Hatem takes bribes, jail innocents and overall commit large amounts of illegal activity because of his corruption. The audience watches as Hatem’s hunger for power further corrupts him, committing more and more egregious acts as the film progresses. Such as when the film shows him start to punish and torture prisoners for his own amusement. The film uses this character as not only a way to shed light on the political corruption in Egypt, but at the same time also critiques it. It reveals to the audience how someone in power could have this mindset, and how that mindset can further corrupt someone until they eventually descend into complete madness.

The film also takes a stance to depict not only political leaders’ corruption, but the corruption of the legal system as a whole. It depicts situations such as police brutality, and the false imprisonment of innocents in order to shed light on how deep political and legal corruption runs in the country. The film takes a large stance against this corruption, critiquing it as a whole since it depicts the actions as an inherently bad thing, showing these actions as actions committed by evil, power hungry people who corrupt their systems from the inside. It also critiques several stereotypes that are prevalent. Such as the main character being a woman, Naur, who Hatem has developed a love based obsession for. The film, depicts Hatem brutally assaulting, kidnapping and raping the main character. However, the film does its best not to bring Naur down because of it, instead it is a sense of community and strength for her. Since the film shows that a riot is created in order to hold her rapist accountable. Showing that Hatem’s hunger for power was what had ultimately led to his downfall.

In general, Hiya Fawda is a film that critiques and commentates on the state of corruption that is prevalent in Egypt. It takes a strong stance against this corruption, while at the same time counteracting many Egyptian stereotypes with its characterization of its characters. Overall being a very substantial film filled with combat of both political corruption and the stereotypes of Egyptians.