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Al-Ahram Weekly 29 July - 4 August 1999 Issue No. 440 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 29 July - 4 August 1999 Issue No. 440
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters I spy with my little I
Khairiya El-BishlawiAccording to the usual film classifications Al-Kafeer (Kafeer) should be referred to as an espionage film, although after watching it, it seems more appropriate to describe it as a farce. This is not because the film is a comedy but because it makes Egypt appear comical, certainly in the eyes of those enemies combated on screen.
In espionage thrillers the central conflict generally takes place between opposing secret service and military institutions. In many ways it is a mental conflict, a kind of psychological warfare that depends on the penetration of the dwelling places of decision makers inside enemy territory. The tighter the plan and stratagems, the stronger and more thrilling the conflict.
In Al-Kafeer, though, nothing is as airtight as it should be, and the general impression it leaves is as ludicrous as it is naive. Even as it opens, the director resorts to simplistic sentimentality. A song by Mohamed Mounir, "All Wounds Heal", bearing no obvious connection to the plot of the film, accompanies the appearance of the lead character, military pilot Akram El-Masri (played by television presenter Tareq Allam), who is introduced as he repairs his plane. In other scenes, as the events unfold, the song is endlessly repeated, until its very ubiquity leads the audience to ignore it altogether.
The scriptwriter contrives a story of unrequited love between Mossad officer Margot (played by Abir Sabri) and the Egyptian pilot, an expert in aircraft engineering who for good measure is also a graduate of the Sorbonne. And a most unlikely love story it is: a woman trained in the use of her sexuality falls prey to love sickness, behaving no better than an adolescent.
So Margot falls madly in love with her enemy under whose guidance she sees the light. Arrested, she spits in the face of the military judge and goes on to call for the collapse of Israel after delivering a silly speech about its racist policies.
As if the script's weakness was not enough, the performance given by the actors managed to turn the scenes in which they are both present into seriously ridiculous moments. Allam's stony performance is largely to blame: his non-existent facial expressions and lifeless sentences falling from his lips make for a very unsuitable Don Juan.
Some scenes are simply beyond belief. One such has Tareq Allam slapping his head in alarmed lament as he realises just how he came to be sitting on a bed in a hotel room in Israel, wearing red pyjamas and with a seductive woman by his side. Another, preceding, scene takes place in an airport. A large troop of male and female Israeli soldiers point their weapons at the Egyptian pilot in a mindlessly melodramatic way only to scatter mindlessly when they see a suitcase.
The filmmakers of Al-Kafeer appear to want to promote the idea that all Israeli soldiers are cowards and that all Israeli women are immoral. In doing so they unwittingly suggest that the Mossad is naive, gullible, predictable and easily outwitted. It is a caricature of the enemy that is extremely insulting to the forces that fight it.
Al-Kafeer, then, is built on the crassest of stereotypes. Akram El-Masri is a Moslem who is seldom without his prayer beads and who adorns his walls with Qur'anic verses. It is important to note that although the film deals with national, patriotic issues, such a character definition relies too blatantly on religious elements which, if anything, points to discriminatory attitudes on behalf of the filmmakers. This is especially true when we see the same level of attention attributed to religious symbolism in the enemy camp. The star of David features prominently in all the official meetings of the Mossad leaders.
Yet the conflict that, ultimately, this film seeks to depict is not one between an Islamic and a Jewish state. It is rather a conflict between nations. Furthermore, the Egyptian nation does not fight under a religious banner, nor does it base its internal or foreign policy on it.
In good espionage films -- and they are many -- the imagination maybe seduced but no matter how far-fetched the events seem they are given credibility by the means of their presentation. The conflict between the Egyptian and Israeli Intelligence forces is in reality an extremely thrilling one, loaded with tensions if only because it takes place between two equally powerful foes divided by a long and public enmity. Furthermore, it is common knowledge that Israel, as an imperialist state, spares no efforts -- whether relying on itself or on its Western allies -- in strengthening its secret service. So what Al-Kafeer presents is an extremely poor interpretation of an intense conflict.
The film's attempts to concretise the concept of heroism fail all expectations. A pity this, since the main storyline really should have been capable of arousing the spectators' sympathy as they follow the pilot's trajectory from France to Tel Aviv.
Al-Kafeer, though, is not the only espionage film plagued with so many flaws. An earlier film, I'dam Mayyet (Execution of a Dead Man), by the same director and scriptwriter (respectively Ali Abdel-Khaleq and Ibrahim Massoud) also failed to credit the audience with any common sense or analytic capacities. And an important reason behind this unfortunate situation is the filmmakers' inability to understand that such films require a tremendous amount of background knowledge. It is certainly no accident that the hugely successful character James Bond was conceived by Ian Fleming, someone who was himself trained in the British secret service and who was an eye witness to many incredible espionage situations.
