Some Actors

Adel Imam is one of the best, not because he is funny, but because he has a point of view.

Another one who has "a point of view" is Mohamed Sobhy. His play "Weghet Nazar ("Point of View") does not fail to amaze me each time I see it. His early series "Rehlet el Melyown" ("Journey of a Million") and its sequel "Sombol Baad El Melyown" ("Sombol after one Million") did have a strong point of view in it and did influence things in Egypt.

Even Ahmed Zaki, also in his latest movies, many times has a point of view.

Nour El Sherif in his famous "El Hag Metwally" series, which has created an uproar in the critics community both locally and in the region, is one good actor too. I really enjoyed this series and find it exceptional. It's a creative work of art. I think if ever a prize was to be given to an Egyptian series in the past decade or so it should go to this exceptional series which has recieved lots of bad comments from critics! If they areally are critics that is.

I find "El Hag Metwally" really worth re-examining. It's facinating. It has true creativity in it. Perhaps I'll be writing on it some more in a coming post.

As for Egyptian actors, many do not fail to surprize me with their talent and enlightenment. I really enjoyed Adel Imam's "Toyour Al Zalam" ("Birds of Darkness") which had a strong political or let's say socio-political side. Also his movie "El Mansy" ("The forgotten") has a deep political and insightful point.

"El Mansy" presents the simple man who is actually doing the work and is the one that is making thigs move and keeping things from crashing. The character of El Mansy, which Adel Imam plays, is working in a train station. His job is to make sure trains go on their way smoothly without crashing. This simple man is the real person behind keeping things rolling. He dreams of being big, and even role playes an 'important' person in the country. In this role-play scene of his, he uses the same words and same style of this important person. Sure the normal viewer of the movie won't notice this, but the hidden political level is clear for an closely observing eye.