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Ayam El-Sadat (Days of Sadat)
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Starring: Ahmed Zaki, Mervat Amin, Mona Zaki, Ahmed El-Sakka
Directed by: Mohamed Khan
The cairolive.com rating: 6 (out of 10)
 Do you like Anwar El-Sadat? That may be the most valid indicator as to whether or not you'll like this film. For this film, more than anything, is a film from the perspective of Anwar El-Sadat, and his wife Jehan. Sadat is portrayed as a hero, who always has been one, and Jehan's love for the young revolutionary knows no bounds.
Ayam Al-Sadat is a nicely paced -- if a bit too crudely cut -- dramatization of the life of a man who did so much that any part of it could have been made into an intricate drama. But no -- the goal here is to harvest 40 years or more. Much more actually, if you count the double and triple flashbacks to Sadat learning Qur'an in a kuttab, and working as a tiny boy in the fields like every other fallah. Perhaps everybody who sees this film will learn something they didn't already know about the late president of Egypt. "I didn't know Jehan's mother was English!" said one movie-goer.
This is the story of a revolutionary man. He helps organize political assassinations, deftly cons his way out of criminal trials, spends quality time in solitary confinement, and arrives at the revolution a little late -- after all, he was at a movie. It's all in here -- his life with Abdel-Nasser, the '73 war, peace with Israel, his assassination. A survey of the life of one of the most important Egyptians of the 20th century.
Ahmed Zaki plays Sadat with a confidence quite different from the cool demeanor he displayed in Nasser 56. It's still headstrong acting, but here he seems comfy with the garb of an ex-president -- that's the key to keeping the audience interested in the exploits.
The score by Yasser Abdel-Rahman is good, and when it's punctuated by the "ba ba boom-something big is happening" refrain that the movie takes on epic proportions. The entertainment press says the fact that the film is doing extremely well is proof of the general public's thirst for serious cinema -- but it is precisely because of how big the film is, that that conclusion is questionable. After all, it's Sadat. The man has friends and he has enemies, and that's probably how tha audience will be divided up. If they don't like him, they'll come up with a hundred reasons to hate the film, and vice-versa.
Of course it does have some quirks. Abdel-Nasser is rarely seen, mostly heard. When he does appear, it is only from the back. The effect is mysterious, helping to give the president previously played by Ahmed Zaki an enigmatic air. Maybe it is because he was played so recently by Zaki that he couldn't be shown here with someone else acting the part. It would create a strange sort of imbalance in the viewer, who had already become almost as familiar with Zaki's picture as Nasser, as Nasser's picture itself.
Showing at:
Tahrir, Roxy, Normandy, Al-Salam, Geniena, Cosmos, Karim, Wonderland, Metro, Miami, Ramsis Hilton
Did you like this article? Send your comments to comments@cairolive.com
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