“Heya Fouda” (It is anarchy) is a twisted love story with a sad dose of reality. At the center is the corrupt chief of police in a common area of Egypt named Shubra. This man accepts bribes, tortures prisoners, has a complete disregard for authority, and is in love with his neighbor. The quintessential bad cop in Egypt. She is a beautiful young woman teaching children a language she barely knows, although she is a BA in English. When life finally gets good for her though, he rips it apart. Although he bares the consequence and she has a semi-happy ending (she’s been raped and her fiancé shot) this love story is not what makes the movie interesting. Neither is the lure of the bad cop. Rather the interest to me was the parts I wasn’t allowed to see or hear.
I was somewhat adapted to the idea that American movies were at times censored. Scenes that were too explicit, especially scenes implying homosexuality, were usually cut. Yet in this case the picture was still playing but the sound wasn’t. It happens around the world, so I assumed it was a technical malfunction and they would get it up in just a second. When the “malfunction” lasted for more then twenty seconds though I turned to my friend and asked if this type of thing was normal. Apparently, it isn’t. However, when a movie address issues such as the imprisonment of political demonstrators, the government feels the need to intercede. At first I was a skeptic. I continued to watch the silent conversation unfold before me. When the scene changed, and the “malfunction” was fixed immediately, my friend was proven right.
All scenes developing the characters of the political demonstrators were either cut out completely, or had the sound cut off. What does the Egyptian government hope to accomplish with such censorship other than to confuse the moviegoers? I’ve lived here for less than a year and am aware of this issue. I didn’t understand what they were doing, or why. I still don’t. Control? Stupidity? Or is it the Egyptian government meddling where it makes no sense again and ignoring the important issues at hand?
No comments:
Post a Comment