Since there isn't a plot summery for it at the IMDb.. Allow me:
"At desperate times, while he was about to lose all of his fortune, millionaire Ga'fer El-Masry meets the devil himself who embodies in a human form. The devil seduces Ga'fer with an evil deal: "No bankruptcy in exchange for killing a man". Ga'fer agrees as long as he'll kill only by the power of "intention". The meant man, a poor fisherman, dies. However, Ga'fer feels so bad about it, and the screams of the murdered man's widow hunt him endlessly. Ga'fer insists on going to the fishermen's village which's faraway from civilization. And there, he meets Halima, the murdered man's widow, but while he's in disguise as an old friend of her late husband. Salem, the fisherman who secretly loves Halima, refuses the presence of Ga'fer around. Ga'fer lives there, works as a fisherman, and falls in love with Halima. He discovers the existence of what can be more expensive than money, senses feelings of humanity and integrity; and becomes eventually another man who can face the devil for the last time."
This is the right story in the wrong hands. Scriptwriter Bassyonni Othman, and director Adel El Aassar, made previously average thrillers, some of them with each other. But this time, it was too far for them to handle Spanish author Alejandro Casona's metaphysical play "The Boat without Fisherman" well-enough cinematically.
There is a blend of troubles. For instance, some naivety; the sequence of the seduction was shot all in red just to assure that Satan is evil and bloody. Some hastiness; the transformation of the main character into another man was all done in just one montage. Some dramatic problems; Ga'fer beats the devil so easily at the end, and the basic meaning looked confusing. Some cheap way to make it more commercial; sort of long dance for Ga'fer's faithless secretary in a nightclub. Some effective boredom; Ga'fer's searching for the village. Some bad casting; Halima's husband was way younger than her. Some mistakes; Ga'fer in one scene tells Halima that he accidentally met her husband for only once, then in the next scene he tells her that her husband was the reason why he's rich?! Some goofs; Gamal Esma'eel's beard gets shorter then longer, white then black, in the same day. Some unintelligible shot; black creatures take the devil on a litter into the sea in the last scene?!
The ambiance was so inadequate and primitive, except some clever utilization for the fishermen's village. Director of photography Mohsen Nasr surely made better movies. I couldn't see his known uniqueness here unless in the sequence of pursuing Salem by the village's inhabitants near the end; by the way, it's the only moment where all the movie's elements looked strong. Save that sequence, it's clear that the script, especially the dialogue, and the whole direction were making yet another TV movie (actually the national Egyptian TV partly produced it).
On the positive side, it had cinematic stars like Nour El- Sheriff, Hussein Fahmy, and Rakdda, with some good performance in detached scenes. But still the best factor of it at all was Ragueh Daoud's music. It was extremely expressive and sensitive, to the extent of being better than the movie itself!
To tell you the truth, the TV at that very moment was the only producer that could support this kind of stories. Though it demanded more caring and detailing of which these scriptwriter and director couldn't fulfill. Hence, the extraordinary story was wobbling all the time between ordinary and poor.
PS: It's "El-Masry" in the title (stands for the Egyptian) not "El-Mas" as it appears in the IMDb pages!!
"At desperate times, while he was about to lose all of his fortune, millionaire Ga'fer El-Masry meets the devil himself who embodies in a human form. The devil seduces Ga'fer with an evil deal: "No bankruptcy in exchange for killing a man". Ga'fer agrees as long as he'll kill only by the power of "intention". The meant man, a poor fisherman, dies. However, Ga'fer feels so bad about it, and the screams of the murdered man's widow hunt him endlessly. Ga'fer insists on going to the fishermen's village which's faraway from civilization. And there, he meets Halima, the murdered man's widow, but while he's in disguise as an old friend of her late husband. Salem, the fisherman who secretly loves Halima, refuses the presence of Ga'fer around. Ga'fer lives there, works as a fisherman, and falls in love with Halima. He discovers the existence of what can be more expensive than money, senses feelings of humanity and integrity; and becomes eventually another man who can face the devil for the last time."
This is the right story in the wrong hands. Scriptwriter Bassyonni Othman, and director Adel El Aassar, made previously average thrillers, some of them with each other. But this time, it was too far for them to handle Spanish author Alejandro Casona's metaphysical play "The Boat without Fisherman" well-enough cinematically.
There is a blend of troubles. For instance, some naivety; the sequence of the seduction was shot all in red just to assure that Satan is evil and bloody. Some hastiness; the transformation of the main character into another man was all done in just one montage. Some dramatic problems; Ga'fer beats the devil so easily at the end, and the basic meaning looked confusing. Some cheap way to make it more commercial; sort of long dance for Ga'fer's faithless secretary in a nightclub. Some effective boredom; Ga'fer's searching for the village. Some bad casting; Halima's husband was way younger than her. Some mistakes; Ga'fer in one scene tells Halima that he accidentally met her husband for only once, then in the next scene he tells her that her husband was the reason why he's rich?! Some goofs; Gamal Esma'eel's beard gets shorter then longer, white then black, in the same day. Some unintelligible shot; black creatures take the devil on a litter into the sea in the last scene?!
The ambiance was so inadequate and primitive, except some clever utilization for the fishermen's village. Director of photography Mohsen Nasr surely made better movies. I couldn't see his known uniqueness here unless in the sequence of pursuing Salem by the village's inhabitants near the end; by the way, it's the only moment where all the movie's elements looked strong. Save that sequence, it's clear that the script, especially the dialogue, and the whole direction were making yet another TV movie (actually the national Egyptian TV partly produced it).
On the positive side, it had cinematic stars like Nour El- Sheriff, Hussein Fahmy, and Rakdda, with some good performance in detached scenes. But still the best factor of it at all was Ragueh Daoud's music. It was extremely expressive and sensitive, to the extent of being better than the movie itself!
To tell you the truth, the TV at that very moment was the only producer that could support this kind of stories. Though it demanded more caring and detailing of which these scriptwriter and director couldn't fulfill. Hence, the extraordinary story was wobbling all the time between ordinary and poor.
PS: It's "El-Masry" in the title (stands for the Egyptian) not "El-Mas" as it appears in the IMDb pages!!
