Egyptian Film Depicts Faith Crisis Triggered by Death of Michael Jackson
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November 19, 2017 23 Culture Cinema Egyptian film depicts faith crisis triggered by death of Michael Jackson Marwa Al-A’sar death of his mother. As a teenager, a Salafi character. The film- Khalid’s admiration for Jackson is maker could have selected an fiercely rejected by his father ordinary person instead,” film Cairo Khalid’s enticement with Jack- critic Magda Mouris said. “Rath- son stopped when he became a er, he presented a fanatic to show t is common for anyone to go Muslim extremist. For fanatics like the inner conflict inside a human through an identity crisis at him, the kind of art Jackson per- being between what he used to be some point but the protagonist formed is prohibited by Islam. Fol- and what he has become or what of “Sheikh Jackson,” an Egyp- lowing Jackson’s death, Khalid suf- has been imposed upon him.” tian film directed by Amr Sala- fers from what he sees as a crisis of Khalid’s state causes him Ima, suffers a crisis of faith resulting faith. He fails to cry while leading delusions, including seeing from teenage memories. prayers at the mosque. Jackson among worship- The film starts with the recur- “My problem is that I’m no long- pers at the mosque on ring nightmare of the main char- er able to cry,” Khalid tells the psy- more than one occasion. acter, Khalid, played by Egyptian chiatrist. Carlo Riley, a well- actor Ahmed el-Fishawy, who is Muslims usually cry out of feel- known Jackson a Salafi cleric, talking to a female ings of awe while praying or recit- tribute artist, psychiatrist, Basma. ing Quranic verses. portrays In the dream, Khalid is in a cof- Khalid’s identity crisis only deep- Jackson in the fin carried by fellow bearded Salafi ens, with him questioning whether film. sheikhs in white jellabiyas. Af- he is Khalid, Jackson or both — Salama smoothly ter being buried in the desert, he “Sheikh Jackson.” moves viewers from wakes up horrified in his tomb. He is neither able to go back to the life of present-day “Look for what you are burying his old self nor maintain his status Khalid to that of the teenager he inside you,” the psychiatrist tells as a Salafi. For the fanatics he be- was through flashbacks. Khalid. longs to, he is regarded as “a former “The film’s pace taking the view- The situation begins in 2009, sinner.” er backward and forward is made Stark contrast. Poster of the Egyptian movie “Sheikh Jackson” when Khalid is so stunned by news When he begins showing signs of very well causing no boredom to directed by Amr Salama. of the death of his teenage idol, perplexity, his uncle, who plays the the viewers at all,” said Tamer Ibra- American pop star Michael Jack- role of his godfather in faith, fears him after watching the film. son, that he crashes into a wall that Khalid is suffering from what The film draws a thin line be- by Salama and Omar Khaled and son’s relationship with God, high- while driving. he considers a relapse. tween fanaticism and moderate produced by Mohamed Hefzy and lighting the discrepancies inside The news brings back memories “The film is remarkable and dar- thinking. Khalid hardly accepts to Hany Osama. the human being.” of his obsession with Jackson dur- ing in the sense that it portrayed expose his feelings to a female psy- “The film is based on contrast, The film was screened in the ing the 1990s, when Khalid was a chiatrist but after all he does. Yet depicting a person who used to Special Presentations section at the teenager. At the time Khalid had he asks her to cover her hair during love Michael Jackson but turns into 2017 Toronto International Film long hair and would dress and the sessions, a request she denies. a fanatic who thinks he could bury Festival and other festivals. It was dance like his idol. Khalid’s attach- Fishawy’s performance is out- his old life. Yet this old life hunts also selected as the Egyptian entry ment to Jackson made the girl he standing, as is that of Ahmed him,” Omar Khaled said. for the Best Foreign Language Film had a crush on once call him “Jack- “Sheikh Jackson” was Malek, who plays Khalid as a teen- “We used the idol of that genera- at the 90th Academy Awards next son” though he was a weak teen- selected as Egypt’s ager. tion to present our idea,” he said, March. It is being shown at cinemas ager bullied by his peers. entry for the Best The film has an open end with adding that it took Salama more in Egypt and several Arab and for- The young Khalid suffers from Khalid attempting to create a com- than two years to write the film. eign countries. the cruelty of his father, played by Foreign Language Film promise between his past and pre- In a recent interview with On veteran actor Maged el-Kedwany. at the 90th Academy sent. Live satellite TV channel, Salama Marwa al-A’sar is a Cairo-based His childhood is affected by the Awards. “Sheikh Jackson” was co-written said the film has to do with a “per- journalist. Can a film be the first step towards reconciliation in Lebanon? Martin Jay been cast for her own experiences, elected during the Israeli occupa- including having grown up in East tion of 1982 — who seems to have Beirut. “I lived with the pain that been canonised. Doueiri, however, Beirut my own parents were struggling rejected that view. with after the war,” she said. “Go- “The story isn’t about Geagea or he psychological barrier ing over to the other side of the Bashir Gemayel,” the director said. between Muslims and war with the Muslims, I can now “I believe Geagea is a changed Christians prevails but see the trauma of what my parents man. He redeemed himself in has Lebanese film direc- went through.” many ways others didn’t but he tor Ziad Doueiri helped Yet is “The Insult” closing the keeps getting a bad rap because Tclose the gap or wedged it farther gap or widening it? The portray- it allows the accusers to conceal ajar? al of the Christian militia leader their own mistakes. Doueiri tackles the very real is- Samir Geagea is an indulgence that sue of religious and political ten- vexes some in Lebanon. sion in “The Insult,” which tells the What is “The Insult” really at- story of how a seemingly minor tempting to do with this plot, The characters are feud between a Christian Arab and which starts with two men needing portrayed as equal a Palestinian Muslim escalates into an apology from one another and something bigger. morphs into a national courtroom victims of their “When I sat down with Joelle drama that uproots their war-time powerful leaders, Touma to write, I didn’t think of consciousness? who relegate them to objectives, in terms of social or Seeking justice is the tenet of being pawns in a sociological or political,” he said this tragic story but there are sub- power struggle. referring to his former wife, leav- plots that can be easily missed — ing one wondering whether some the broken love between a failed tension from a failed marriage was lawyer and his daughter; the jaw- in the script. dropping level of corruption that “No film achieves its objec- “We were just focused on devel- has left the Lebanese with a rub- tives. Maybe ‘Midnight Express’ oping a character piece, two people bish dump of a country; politicians (the 1978 thriller about conditions at each other’s throats, seeking jus- extracting what they can to pay for within the Turkish prison system) tice, and behind the trial,” Doueiri their playboy lifestyles; the lazi- did at the time but, in general, art said, “there’s a need for both to re- ness and despondency with which work plays a role but remains small deem themselves.” police officers do their job; and the but significant. The characters are portrayed pervasive hatred, fear and racism “You don’t achieve reconcilia- as equal victims of their power- that the country has seen develop tion from one end. It takes a lot ful leaders, who relegate them to following the civil war. more than a film but I know the being pawns in a power struggle. Journalist Jim Quilty said the debate ensued and some taboos “The Insult” cleverly portrays the “re-branding” of Geagea left him are starting to break. That’s a good consequences of the paranoia and uneasy and that he was sceptical sign for me.” persecution that permeate their about “reconciliation.” “The Insult” is a well-made film lives — coping with abuse by wrap- “When’s the last time a film kick- but not one that can be compared ping themselves in the racist nar- started political reconciliation? to works such as “West Beirut” ratives of tribal leaders and feast- Seems to me this film has more to (1998) due to the Hollywood nu- Highly political. Poster of “The Insult” by Lebanese film director ing on their fear of one another’s do with normalising the profile of a ance. However, it remains worth Ziad Doueiri. groups. civil war militia leader than it does watching with a critical eye. More than whether the charac- national reconciliation,” he said. ters are equals in the film is the to make the film more internation- ing the stunning Rita Hayek as lead It’s fair criticism.