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EGYPT - A SALUTE to EGYPT - 'The Egyptians!' by LATIFA - ENGLISH SUBTITLES - FILM:'SKOOT HANSAWWAR'
'AL MASAREEN' or 'THE EGYPTIANS' SONG is a CELEBRATION of a GREAT PEOPLE who have LIVED by the NILE RIVER for over 3000 YEARS and have seen PHARONIC; CHRISTIAN; MUSLIM; TURKISH; GREEK; FRENCH; BRITISH; AMERICAN CULTURES sweep EGYPT...MANY MANY thanks to ASHRAF helping for my ENGLISH SUBTITLING!
GLOBALISATION of the EGYPTIANS is the THEME of the SONG. EGYPT has been the CENTRE of MODERNISM in the ARAB WORLD since the 19th CENTURY. INDEED CAIRO was the FIRST ARAB CAPITAL CITY to have INFRASTRUCTURE built by the COLONIAL POWERS of FRENCH STREETS with SQUARES and HIGH RISE VILLAS [cheaply copied in the then 'new' concrete methods that were tried out in EGYPT].
The INSTALLATION of ELECTICITY made for the ESTABLISHMENT of BANKS and BUSINESSES and of course CAIRO became the HOME of ARABIC CINEMA and the ARABIC MUSIC and RADIO INDUSTRY due to its ADVANCED URBANISATION in ARABIA. By the 1930s, having copied both AMERICAN and INDIAN CINEMA, EGYPT was PRODUCING HUNDREDS of films in EGYPTIAN ARABIC and EXPORTING them across the whole of the ARABIC-SPEAKING REGIONS.
EGYPT had been COLONISED by the OTTOMANS for CENTURIES followed by the BRITISH. So the INFLUENCE of THE NEW TURKISH SECULAR REPUBLIC and BRITISH CULTURE were INEVITABLE. The EGYPTIAN CINEMA took on all of TURKEY'S MODERNISM of promoting ATATÜRK'S WESTERN DRESS and EUROPEAN CULTURE of INDIVIDUALISM and a move AWAY from RURAL and TRADITIONAL CULTURE through FASHION and PERSUASION through the MEDIA.
'THE EGYPTIANS!' SONG from film 'SILENCE...WE'RE ROLLING' (2001)
Well, actually, it is 'The Egyptian!' singular, but it seems 'better' in English as plural! Anyway, 'AL MISEREE/N!' is a WONDERFUL song that CHRONICLES the PAST and PRESENT CULTURAL INVASIONS of EGYPT and the EGYPTIAN NATURE in living with those INVADERS. How the EGYPTIANS RETAIN their CULTURE of being able to 'SMELL THE VILLAGE ROSE' as a METAPHOR for keeping their RURAL SWEETNESS and KIND NATURE but STILL, 'LIVING THE DREAM' in terms of MODERNISATION, EDUCATION, SPEAKING ENGLISH, etc.
One funny line about the EGYPTIANS from a HISTORIAN was, "During the centuries of The Ottoman Empire, the Egyptians never learned Turkish, indeed it was Turkish that became overrun with Arabic grammar and vocabulary!"...The EGYPTIANS are good at WINNING by IGNORING the OPPOSITION and continuing their own ways but absorbing a little of the colonisers.
FILM MAKER: YOUSSEF CHAHINE [1926-2008]
CHAHINE was the DIRECTOR of 'SKOOT HANSAWWAR' or 'SILENCE, WE'RE ROLLING' and 'AL MISAREEN' is a TYPICAL type of STATEMENT of YOUSSEF CHAHINE about the INVASION of EGYPTIAN CULTURE with GLOBALISING and COLONIALS and the EGYPTIAN WRESTLING to AVOID such a CULTURAL WIPE.
YOUSEFF CHAHINE was born in LEBANON which , like EGYPT was another LIBERAL COUNTRY that LEAD the ARAB WORLD in MUSIC and CULTURE until the 1975 LEBANESE CIVIL WAR destroyed the country. CHAHINE was born CHRISTIAN but DISLIKED ORGANISED RELIGION and if asked his FAITH, he would say, "Egyptian".
YOUSSEF began mixing with FILM FOLK in CAIRO and in the 1950s made his first film about the OVERTHROW of the EGYPTIAN MONARCHY for the GAMAL ABDEL NASSER REPUBLIC in the 1950s.
All of CHAHINE'S FILMS were ADVANCED and CONTROVERSIAL covering topics of GLOBALISATION, NATIONALISM, HOMOSEXUALITY, CORRUPTION, THE MONARCHY...Eventually, his project in 1994 of 'THE EMIGRANT' depicted BIBLICAL CHARACTERS. YOUSSEF CHAHINE became entrenched in OPPOSITION from FUNDEMENTALISTS and THE GOVERNMENT. His films were often MISUNDERSTOOD as they were 'before their time' for the often ILLITERATE ARAB AUDIENCES who were used to EMPTY MELODRAMAS that usually made up the bread and butter of EGYPTIAN CINEMA.
YOUSEFF CHAHINE was BETTER UNDERSTOOD in his later years as EGYPTIAN FILMS began to CHANGE toward BITING SATIRE like the MOHAMMED SA'AD FILMS and more SERIOUS FILMS like 'AL RAQASA WE AL SIYASI' ['THE BELLY DANCER and the POLITICIAN (which is the more corrupt!)]. As an early PIONEER of these INTELLECTUAL FILMS he had some BITTER CONFLICT.
The SONG is a WONDERFUL CELEBRATION of ALL THINGS EGYPTIAN by, IRONICALLY, a TUNISIAN SINGER called LATIFA [b.1968]. LATIFA studied in TUNISIA and then MUSIC in CAIRO. She was discovered by MUSIC DIRECTORS in the CITY who wanted her to sing LONG 'TARAB' SONGS but LATIFA wanted to focus on a NEW STYLES that EVENTUALLY SOLD ABROAD.
'AL MISAREEN!'
It has a FULL WESTERN ORCHESTRA which is CURIOUS PARADOX for a SONG that CELEBRATES EGYPT but that is the NATURE of EGYPT that it is so INTERNATIONAL yet so TRADITIONAL! This is SHOWCASED in the WESTERN STYLE THEATRE and EASTERN STYLE REFERENCES and FAMILY TOGETHERNESS in HARMONY.
EGYPTIAN CULTURAL FIGURES in the LYRICS
- NAGUIB MAHFOUZ [1911-2006] Superb novelist
- AHMED ZAWEIL [b. 1946] Scientist discovered Atom Speed
- OUM KHALTHOUM [1904-1975] The First Lady of Arabic Music
- ABDEL HALIM HAFEZ [1929-1977] Classic Egyptian Tenor
Category | Education |
Sensitivity | Normal - Content that is suitable for ages 16 and over |
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