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Al-Ahram Weekly 23 - 29 March 2000 Issue No. 474 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 23 - 29 March 2000 Issue No. 474
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Sadat's days on the screen
By Hanan Sabra
It was not all plain sailing but, after four years of ups and downs, the film Ayam El-Sadat (Days of El-Sadat), with an estimated budget of LE4 million, is finally in the shooting stage. Depicting 40 years of the late President Anwar El-Sadat's life, the film is the brainchild of Ahmed Zaki, who is producing it as well as starring in the title-role.
"A film about Sadat's life has been a dream of mine for 20 years," Zaki told Al-Ahram Weekly. He said that it was El-Sadat himself who chose him to play the role in a TV soap opera about his life that was planned at the time, and was to be directed by Yehya El-Alami. The serial was never completed. "I have dreamed of this role since then, even before doing Nasser 56," he added.
The blockbuster on the late President Gamal Abdel-Nasser's historic and momentous decision to nationalise the Suez Canal in 1956 was released in August 1996, starring Zaki in the title role. That Zaki is playing both Nasser and El-Sadat has been seen by a number of critics as paradoxical, a view which infuriates Zaki. "I'm an actor; my job is to present different personalities, historical and ordinary. I'm an Egyptian, neither a Nasserist nor a Sadatist. I have the greatest admiration for both leaders. Both Nasser and El-Sadat made Egyptian history." He added that he is also planning to play the role of President Hosni Mubarak in a coming film about his life.
The script for Ayam El-Sadat was written by Al-Ahram' s senior columnist Ahmed Bahgat and is directed by Mohamed Khan. The role of Mrs Jihan El-Sadat is performed by two actresses: Mona Zaki portrays her as a young woman while Mervat Amin plays her role in later life. Amin, who bears a striking resemblance to the wife of the late President, was chosen for the role by Mrs El-Sadat herself.
Mrs Jihan El-Sadat, graciously, takes the Weekly on a tour of the home she shared with the late president: (above, left) Sadat's study; (top) Sadat's private drawing room; (right) a suit that just might fit Ahmed Zaki as well as the famous pipe, which Zaki, in Sadat's role, will be puffing
Ayam El-Sadat focuses on 40 years of the late president's life, reflecting Egypt's political and social conditions during this period. "The script is based on two books, A Lady from Egypt (Sayeda min Misr) by Jihan El-Sadat and Search for Identity (Al-Bahth 'an Al-Zat ) by the late president," said Bahgat.
Mrs El-Sadat, who has been consulted on the film script, has welcomed the production. "El-Sadat's life is a rich one. It needs more than one film -- one about the October 1973 War, another about the peace treaty [with Israel], and so on. I would welcome a hundred films about El-Sadat," Jihan El-Sadat told the Weekly.
She pointed out, "I don't ask for a film to glorify El-Sadat, only a film that tells the truth." Mrs El-Sadat said that she trusts both Zaki and Bahgat. "Zaki is a brilliant actor who succeeded before in playing Nasser and I'm sure he can do El-Sadat well."
Jihan El-Sadat insisted that her approval of the script was unconditional and that she had not asked for any changes after reading it. "I'm proud of El-Sadat, both as a leader and a person. I want none of his deeds to be hidden."
According to Mrs El-Sadat, her main suggestion was that the film should give prominence to what she feels were El-Sadat's two major achievements, namely the October War and the conclusion of the peace agreements with Israel. She asked as well that their own love story should be played down. "El-Sadat is a valiant, brave leader who did a lot for his country. His patriotism was the first reason for our love," she said.
She also offered to assist in the film's production by allowing the cast to shoot in El-Sadat's residence. She provided them with photographs and tapes, and allowed Zaki to use some of El-Sadat's personal possessions, including his famous pipe.
However, Mrs El-Sadat wistfully feels that perhaps the time is not quite right for a film on her late husband. She believes that cultural life is still dominated by figures who are hostile to El-Sadat's policies. She admits that she was saddened when she learned that the script for a planned film on the October War was to be commissioned from TV screenplay writer Osama Anwar Okasha, a Nasserite. "With all due respect to Okasha's talent, he is a biased writer; his hostility for El-Sadat was clear in all his stories," she commented.
Mrs El-Sadat stresses, nevertheless, that "some of those who opposed El-Sadat's sprint for peace have come over the past 20 years to recognise that they had misjudged him and to reach the conclusion that he was a great leader."
El-Sadat was a complex personality, "a character that requires much investigation and contemplation in order to understand," says Bahgat. Zaki agrees: "A leader such as El-Sadat, with his great pride, powerful personality, and tremendous courage, is certainly a complex character. He is not easy to play, but I think that my belief in El-Sadat will help my performance."
Ayam El-Sadat begins with El-Sadat as a cadet at the Military Academy. It moves on to depict his struggle against the British occupation, his dismissal from the army and subsequent reinstatement and his role in the Free Officers Movement and the July 1952 Revolution.
The story-line peaks with El-Sadat orchestrating the Egyptian victory in the October War of 1973 and his subsequent courageous drive for peace, highlighted by his dramatic visit to Jerusalem in November 1977. The film ends with the tragic development that brought the end of the late president's life -- the arrest of hundreds of opposition leaders in September 1981, leading to El-Sadat's assassination by Islamist militants during a military parade on 6 October of the same year.
