3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Brings back some memories..., July 23, 2009
I remember being taken to see this at a repertory theatre as a child. Overall quite a good digital remastering of a classic Egyptian film though some of the inside scenes (probably 5 or 6) were too dark as one can't make out much detail in the shadows - this does not detract from the film.
Fatma was Um Kulthum's last movie and she was a great singer, but not so great a range an actor. The purpose of her films was to hilite her voice. Anwar Wagdi who played Fahti Bey was much more expressive and held up the movie, as did the various actors playing the bit roles. I greatly enjoyed the role of the legal assistant (watch his expression as he "conducts" in the closing scene - that's how you should feel about the music) and the interplay between Fahti and his two brothers.
The film idealizes the good heartedness of street life vs the duplicity of the upper class. It also is interesting from an historical perspective as it does give a snapshot of Egyptian civil society in the late 1940s. I found the business function of a professional copyist (literally a scribe who would manually transcribe a document for you - used as a major plot point here) quite a throwback - 2 hrs for a rush job of a single page! LOL.
That being said I probably should have left this memory alone. As a child I cheered when the couple got back together again. As an adult I found it sexist and demeaning that Fatma would take Fahti back. Different time frame, different sensibilities.
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