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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 August 2000 Issue No. 496 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 August 2000 Issue No. 496
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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You once mentioned that you had never before had the luxury of shooting for more than six weeks. But Days of Sadat has taken 11 weeks to shoot.
This is not a luxury at all. An ordinary script has some 120 scenes, Sadat had 300. Our original plan was to shoot for 12 weeks, which would be the minimum for a film like this. Production wanted to cut it down to 10, which was out of the question. Even with 11 weeks I'm not completely satisfied. Besides, we started shooting in February and finished in August. Five months for 11 shooting weeks. All the stoppages were very inconvenient, frustrating for me and for the rest of the crew. We should have finished shooting in April and be screening right now.
Were all 300 scenes shot?
No. Ahmed Zaki took upon himself the effort of shuffling through, selecting from and adding to various scripts and finally compiled a huge version. Problems arose because a scene would depend on a previous one which was absent from the final script. In my opinion, this hybrid screenplay was weak, so I endeavoured to strengthen it cinematically. The subject matter functioned as a good backbone for the structure of the film but the script wcontinually doctored through the shoot. It became like an illigitimate son. You don't know the father. It's a bastard script.
Several different scripts, as well as contibutions from an anonymous writer, all relying on over 30 books for reference, were interwoven into Ahmed Bahgat's original script, which was itself based on Sadat's Al-Bahth 'an Al-Zat (In Search of Identity) and Mrs Sadat's Sayeda Min Misr (A Woman of Egypt). Consequently, one always had to go back to check and double check the accuracy of the historical events represented in the final screenplay. For instance, the arrest of Naguib in the final script occured in his house, but I insisted on sticking to what really happened and shot the arrest on a train. While such details, and there were many, may not be crucial, I value authenticity above all.
When did the idea for the film initiate?
This is Ahmed Zaki's pet project. He approached me about five years ago when Bahgat was writing it. Zaki later accused me of not giving the project enough time, although I was doing research independently, leaving Bahgat to finish his version. Subsequently, after I had suggested a second writer who produced a screenplay from scratch the disagreement between Zaki and myself aggravated and we split. During my absence from the project, Zaki brought a third, a fourth and then a fifth writer, each contributing a different script, and of course another director. The latter's approach didn't suit Zaki's and the project stopped again. Finally, when the project was resuscitated, they approached me a second time, and I accepted.
How did the production design cope with the historical period of this film?
Since the film covers from the 1920s to the early 1980s it required some precision, which is very difficult to maintain in our local industry. Onsi Abu Seif was in charge of production and costume design, and he undertook the difficult task of manicuring the real locations plus designing costumes and sets that would suit the different periods.
He built a background wall for the Knesset scene which appears behind Zaki's character. For the Knesset itself we use actual footage without Sadat. In fact we never see Sadat himself in the film, though throughout shots of Zaki are inter-cut with actual footage of the events shown. For instance, a real shot of Golda Meier turning to shake hands with Sadat is followed by a shot of Zaki shaking hands with a woman shown from the back. Some of the TV-monitor shots show video footage. Other footage from newsreels will be inserted into the edited film, but only once the exact length of the inserts is clear because obtaining them from international film archives is expensive.
Only in the assassination scene do we use photo-collage, mixing in real footage that the Americans captured of the assassins approaching Sadat.
Sadat is partially shot in black and white. It is the first time you do this.
I even decided not to restrict black and white just for the flashbacks. In the editing my use of black and white will become clearer.
Nadia Shoukri [who has worked on all 18 of Khan's films] is supervising editor, while Khaled Mar'i will edit digitally. I need Nadia's eye, her experience and knowledge of my previous work. She's an asset, and Mar'i was very understanding and welcoming.
How far has Yasser Abdel-Rahman proceeded with the film score?
Ahmed Zaki as Sadat in a variety of postures and scenes: Mohamed Khan's vision, though implicit, pervades the action of the film, making it a personal statement as well as a non-fiction biography
I don't want him to see any of the footage just yet. We're trying to work with the idea of a theme, not a musical interpretation of the drama. I want a theme that suits the film as a whole first, then refine it to embrace the details of the picture. Recent news reports that the London Symphony Orchestra will record the score are a complete fabrication.
Given the decline of labs and studios many films now go to Europe for post-production. Where will you go with Sadat?
I'm editing here, but I'll mix and print either in Belgium or in England. It's funny because I just met Shimi's wife [cinematography director Said Shimi is Khan's childhood friend and long time collaborator] and I learned that he's printing in Budapest. It shows you the state of our labs.
This is the first film you have directed that dramatises actual characters and events. Any changes in your method?
In all of my previous films I based the work on my own shooting script, whether it is prepared in advance for the entire film or on a daily basis. In this film I decided to shoot as though I'm ad-libbing it. Improvising it. I refused to make a shooting script. I conceived of a style for the whole film, and within that framework was always reacting to the place, characters, and scene. For the first time I use the one shot [a scene] system as a unifying style for the whole film, with some exceptions of course.
I don't consider it a historical film, but the story of a man, which was at the root of my conflict with Zaki. I think the human dimension is much the most important, and a lot more scenes could have still been shot to reinforce it. He saw it as a political question-and-answer film. I wasn't mad about that, and all the time I sought to reinforce the human element of the drama, which is very important to make it entertaining on the one hand, and to explore the very exciting aspects of Sadat's character. I didn't want to make a biased film either way. Neither necessarily acclaiming or attacking. A film about a man who had an exciting life and his decisions, irrespective of whether we liked and agreed with them or not.
I think what's happening today is a continuation of the daring steps he took. He was a far-sighted man. Not very democratic, but his foresight proved to be correct. Regional events at the moment are a continuation of his peace initiatives. The film ends with the assassination in the early 1980s, which do not look very different from the 1990s. The film has a lot to do with today: our rethinking him and our positive or negative re-evaluation of his role at the time.
But in our part of the world, although there is a bit of freedom, it's not a complete freedom. Somehow you still cannot say everything. Sometimes you cannot reveal events involving characters who are still in power. It doesn't necessarily mean they are guilty of anything, but unfortunately the degree of oversensitivity in our society prevents us touching upon anything of that sort.
The film is not chronologically structured.
No. It starts with Nasser's death, then goes into one long flashback where we see Sadat as a child. Later on in the film he sees himself in a flash again as a child, which was not in the script. This flash emphasises his relation with the land: Sadat had a real peasant inside of him, that's why he prefered to sit in gardens rather than in salons -- we see him repeatedly under trees. Such shifts are not treated in the conventional way, where someone sits and suddenly remembers or imagines something. There is also a dream sequence. The history of the subconscious has no witnesses, anything can be seen in it. This dream -- which is a little hallucinatory -- is dramatically crucial because I use it on the eve of his assasination.
What on earth happened to the motorcycles on the last day of shooting? Do you think a presidential procession would include so few vehicles?
This is typical of the production's inadequacy. I had to make do with the two available motorcycles because it was the last day of shooting and everyone wanted it finished. Besides, it is not a presidential procession but the president just passing by, otherwise we would need 20 cars around him. I actually saw Sadat passing by in his car on the first day of shooting Bird on the Road [Ta'er Ala Al-Tariq, 1981] in Tahrir Square, and I don't remember a single motorcycle, maybe just a car behind him. He used to move quite quietly sometimes.
The helicopter, the presidential plane and the Mercedes used were all Sadat's?
The car is one of the same model, but the helicopter and the plane were his. However, we had to avoid showing the emblem since it is no longer that of a falcon (as in Sadat's time) but an eagle -- we had the same problem shooting at the People's Assembly. We also used the real television live-coverage truck that was present at the assassination.
Was there any military consultancy?
There was, particularly whenever it concerned arms and military vehicles, such as two tanks dating from 1952. However, when our consultant was late for a shoot once, a mistake took place: the flag in one of the speeches is on the president's left, while it should have been on his right. It's unfortunate, but we couldn't reshoot. Hopefully, no one will pick up on this but experts on miltiary protocol.
In a recent interview Ahmed Zaki said that disagreements between you were based on his belated discovery of some terms in your contract that he felt limited his authority.
I had put in the contract only one condition, in order to draw the line between friendship, association and work. I was adamant about this, and he read it, if he says he didn't it's not true. Nobody signs things he doesn't read. There were other things I wanted that he asked me to forgo, and I did. I ask only for my right as a director to have control over the directorial aspects of the film.
The right to final cut is automatic, there is no argument about it. What I mean is chosing actors, arranging for rehearsals, deciding whether to shoot or not. And I'm glad, because now I see all the problems that might have arisen had I not done that.
As an actor he never interferes in the execution of the picture, I must give him credit for this. Any interference came in his capacity as producer and his contribution as uncredited author. I still feel some scenes should have been shot, and that would have contributed to the film's human dimension and authenticity and been of great interest to the public. He wanted the second half of the picture to be purely political -- thinking that people would be interested to hear things they might not have heard before or that they may have forgotten -- which would have made it boringly dry. People will not go to see a film about Sadat just to hear his speeches, so only the important parts of the speeches we shot will be included in the film.
So you wanted to concentrate more on the personal side of Sadat?
Yes. For instance, in the midst of all his preoccupations, the president once casually stopped by his mother, and as she prepared him coffee she suddenly died in his arms. I think this is very dramatically relevant, it exposes some human aspects of the character. I wanted to shoot Sadat in Abu Simbel. They said 'no' because we had already shot him by the pyramids, which is typical of the production's narrowmindedness. Still, I think I can make an interesting picture out of the stuff I have.
A last stop
Director Mohamed Khan and cinematographer Tareq El-Tilmisani
2.00pm: Sunday 6 August 2000.
Location: A side street by Le Meridien Heliopolis off Salah Salem Road.
Scene: The passage of President Sadat's car with security vehicles. All extras, no actors required.
The shooting of this scene, the penultimate of the film, originally scheduled for Thursday 3 August, was postponed after the discovery that there were no authentic uniforms available for the four motorcyclists who would lead the minor presidential procession. With the problem finally solved by the film's costume design department, cast and crew, with a cheerfulness that is not entirely free of premonition, look forward to Sunday 6. At exactly 2.00pm, on schedule, more than 30 crew members, including director, cinematography director, sound engineer, and head production executives, 30 plus extras dressed up in suits and ties -- special security forces -- though without any machine guns or walky talkies -- are present under the burning afternoon sun, on a side street adjacent to Le Meridien Heliopolis. Two production trucks block the side street to through traffic.
At 6.00pm, as lamp posts and trees on the pavement cast long shadows over the dark grey asphalt, the words "action" and "rolling" remain unuttered. How? A production executive, dragging his feet, tells director, cinematographer and sound engineer that the assistant charged with bringing the motorcycles had somehow failed to turn up with them.
A black motorcycle with big white BMW letters adorning its sides -- patently unsuitable -- arrives on set to join the one that has been available all day. A quick change to presidential force license plates and shooting begins after several sun reflectors have been replaced by two 2,500 watt Daylight Compacts to light the scene, to be shot in black and white.
Khan is very precise, and knows exactly what he wants. Once the black Mercedes, black jeep, and two -- not four -- motorcycles are in gear, the three-shot scene begins.
The first shot is a crane-up facing the vehicles' entrance into the side street, then a tilt-down from the high angle onto the president's Mercedes. Shooting requires four takes.
The other two shots are from fixed angles and at closer range, so no one anticipates any hiccups as the cinematography director adopts a lotus posture, brand new Aaton camera on his lap. A motorcyclist conscientiously obeys the assistant director's request to drive as close to the camera as possible. "It is insured," he tells him encouragingly. The motorcyclist hits the camera, almost breaking it. The director of cinematography is sent sprawling.
By 7.00pm all three shots are finished and a break is called. While the crew scatters about the street eating, a small table is set up on the pavement for the director and cinematographer to have their sandwiches. Hierarchy is to be respected even in the street.
In the final days of shooting certain things are expected: two loud arguments between crew members and production staff ensue about levels of pay. The whole caravan then heads to the airport where the last scene is shot.
