An amiable bubble unburst

Before the present decade ends Egyptian movie goers will have seen the emergence of a few rising stars who might just, at last, provide sufficient reason for a degree of optimism. Audiences flocked to the cinemas in unprecedented haste despite -- perhaps because of -- the unbearable heat wave, returning to the movie theatre the spirit of anticipation that once preceded the screening of each new film.

These rising stars speak a jargon of their own, a product of the '90s, an amalgam of commercial advertising speak, casual clothes, pizza, ketchup and potato chips, mixed with Michael Jackson, Mohamed Fouad and Amr Diab. It is a jargon understood across social classes. And watching films such as Ismailiya Rayeh Gayy (Ismailia Back and Forth) and Sa'idi fil-Gam'a Al-Amrikiya (An Upper Egyptian at AUC) proved pleasurable experiences as they filled the darkened halls with laughter. And the main reason for this was the presence of Mohamed Heneidi.

Heneidi jokes, provides wit and joy and, most importantly, shares a kindred spirit with his audience. Heneidi and the audience both belong to the '90s and both find solace from the strains of everyday life in comedy.

During the private screening merely reaching the cinema entrance required effort. Not a seat was empty. As I ventured to watch the film again among the public of my local movie theatre, I relied on the assistance of the security guard in order to make it past the crowds. Once inside, the public was impatient for the film to begin, holding its breath, waiting for Heneidi to make his appearance on the screen. His incredible success has placed him alongside comedy stars such as El-Rihani, El-Kassar, Ismael Yassin, El-Qossari, Abdel-Moneim Ibrahim, Wahid Seif, El-Mohandess, Madbouli and Adel Imam.

The idea behind An Upper Egyptian at AUC is not new; the treatment it receives in this version, however, grants it social, cultural and political dimensions which befit the mood of the '90s. The Upper Egyptian leaves behind the natural, peaceful and simple atmosphere of the countryside and finds himself in the capital with its harsh realities. The radical contradiction between the simple, naive, seemingly backward person that he is, and the complex, cosmopolitan personality that the city forces him to become produces a substantial amount of laughter. The incongruous state of the protagonist as he appears lost and seemingly incapable of adapting to his new surroundings was played beautifully by Mohamed Heneidi.

Scriptwriter Medhat El-Adl (Amrika Shika Bika and Ice Cream fi Gleem) stretches this idea to its limits. The hero, Khalaf El-Dahshouri, is not only a villager, but comes from the extreme south of Upper Egypt. And he moves not only to the capital, but to its most Westernised institution, the AUC.

El-Adl, however, refuses the popular misconceptions surrounding the Upper Egyptian character. His protagonist is intelligent and hard-working enough to deserve an academic scholarship from AUC, thereby opposing the stereotype of Upper Egyptians as fodder for jokes. And in his treatment of the AUC, the scriptwriter also denies the widely-held belief that AUC students are only a product of Westernisation, presenting them as consciously and actively embracing national and Arab interests.

Khalaf, thanks to his humour and his personality, manages to melt the ice with every new person and every new circumstance. He moves from the village, with its deeply rooted traditions, to the city where his friends -- also originally from the countryside, but now established in Cairo -- reside. His two friends, played by Ahmed El-Saqqa and Tarek Lutfi, evolve into a village-city hybrid, each tinted by the Cairene colours that most suit his nature. Khalaf then moves into the AUC atmosphere with similar ease. And the transition into the world of the Sudanese prostitute Samara is equally smooth, as Khalaf is seen adapting himself to the life of members of the Sudanese community -- national loyalties on the part of the Sudanese director?

Visually the film provides a similar sense of mobility and the locations include the city, the countryside and the coastline. The characters also offer a wide array of personalities, each presented with a certain degree of sympathy except for that of Serag, the Egyptian-American professor of political science, an opportunist who betrays his students to the AUC administration and to the Egyptian Intelligence. Yet even the intelligence agent is presented with tolerant and noble attributes.

Indeed, the director and scriptwriter are so sympathetic towards their characters that they embellish and justify their potentially negative sides: Ahmed El-Saqqa's flick-knife is brandished only in defence of his friends; Samara, the prostitute, is sweet while Hashim's drug abuse is only for fun.

The generally positive impression produced by the film is due to the diversity of characters who all seem to float in a bubble of amiability. Paternal, friendly or amorous love are equally stressed. Furthermore, the film is crowded with a youthful cast, radiating energy, wit and optimism: the three Upper Egyptian friends, the AUC student played by Mona Zaki, who interpreted the role of the modern, independent, yet truly Egyptian girl very successfully, and last but not least, the whole cast who performed the roles of the students.