The movie “Baheb El-Sima” (I Love the Cinema), starring Egyptian actress Laila Elwi, faced numerous criticism when it was first screened due to some religious issues, but no one paid close attention to the political and sexual connotations it has embedded into it. Criticism poured by religious Christians who said that the movie offended Christianity, but all these accusations proved to be wrong for a simple reason that the producer and director were Christians.
After the whole religious matter went away people had more time to go through the movie in depth to realize that the movie is deeper than what it appears like. The movie talks about Egypt during the sixties and up mixing some politics talking about the era of the late Egyptian President Nasser but without being biased, which gives viewers the chance to judge and not depend on the movie to formulate a conclusion, bringing out the essence of the movie.
The director stressed on a speech that President Nasser gave when he to decided to retire saying that it was because of the loss in the war of 1967 and tries to show that admitting the loss is the first step in success and not the contrary.
In another scene the director shows a couple being intimate while the speech of President Nasser in the background talking about the importance of building the state while the husband looked unable to fulfill his wife's desire. This scene was symbolic relating between the feelings of not being able to satisfy the needs of a wife with the political reality Egypt was going through at that time.
The movie had talked about the three taboos, sex, religion, and politics but the question remains whether it succeeded to reveal the relation between the three taboos or not?
The court of urgent matters in Abdeen, Cairo, had decided to not rule in the case against the makers of the movie “Baheb el Sima”, which was filed by 15 Coptic clergymen and 10 lawyers and advisors demanding the immediate stoppage of the movie.
The verdict stated that the court does not appose the case, but on the contrary they feel with the Coptic clergymen and everyone who filed the lawsuit, but stressed that they cannot rule in the case because it is not in their specialty. The judge stressed that the court of urgent matters does not normally accept cases that deal with such sensitive and deep issues as the one presented before them.
The lawyers representing the Coptic Christians revealed that he respects the court order, but will appeal to a higher court until he reaches a verdict to have the film stopped from screening. –Albawaba.com
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
