أفواه و أرانب

I recently saw this great movie called Afwah wa Araneb, starring Faten Hamama who was simply brilliant. Although this was a later film made in 1977, never before had I seen her appear as beautiful as in this one.


The story was nice, and all the actors played their parts very well. Mahmoud Yassin was for once not playing an overly complexed character that casts a depressing shadow in the filmoric atmosphere. And Farid Shawki played this small role as her brother in-law, who, although a drunk who had fraudulently married her off in her absence to a complete stranger without even bothering to notify her, to pay off a debt, was a loveable drunk nonetheless.

And the film was a drama mind you, but one which didn't lose touch with the basic humanity of its characters, even its villains. The village thug, who, hearing of Faten Hamama's arrival after her long absence from the village came at once to collect his prize, in his ignorant brutishness makes the viewers laugh at him as well. Hats off to the director of this masterpiece of Egyptian cinema Henry Barakat, and to the writer and screenwriter Samir Abdel-Azim.