''Malaṯily Bathhouse'' ( ar, حمام الملاطيلي "Ĥamam al-Malaṯily") is a 1973 Egyptian film directed by
Salah Abu Seif
Salah Abu Seif ( ar, صلاح أبو سيف, ) (May 10, 1915 – June 23, 1996) was one of the most famous Egyptian film directors, and is considered to be the godfather of Neorealist cinema in Egyptian cinema. Many of the 41 films he dire ...
. The main actors are
Shams al-Baroudi and
Yusuf Shåban. It is adapted from a novel by
Ismåeel Walieddin. Samar Habib, author of ''Female Homosexuality in the Middle East: Histories and Representations'', said "that the title of the film can "be easily translated" as ''Malatily Bathhouse''."
[Habib, p]
120
The opening credits of the film have the English title ''An Egyptian Tragedy''. Habib said that it was "strangely translated" into ''An Egyptian Tragedy''.
[
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Plot
The beginning shows what Habib calls a "long scenic tribute" to Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...
and to the general city.[ Habib said that the director "visually implies the polymorphous vagaries of the city in which an immoral underworld is bound to flourish.][Habib, p]
120121
The main character, Aĥmad, leaves rural eastern Egypt for the city hoping to become economically self-sufficient, get an apartment for his parents, and obtain a law degree. He and his family are refugees from a town occupied by the Israeli army
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...
, Ismaåilia. Ali, the owner of the Malatily Bathhouse, offers to let him stay there for free. Aĥmad encounters several characters there, including Naåeema, a prostitute who he becomes obsessed with, and Raouf, a male homosexual. Ali later has Aĥmad work as his accountant. Aĥmad eventually has sexual intercourse with Naåeema. Aĥmad finds a lack of employment opportunities and becomes associated with the bathhouse, so his original goals are not met.[
Habib said "There appears to be a sensitive awareness that foreign viewers of the film should not regard its content as conspiring with or approving of the morally loose behaviour of the libertines it depicts."][ Habib argues that this seems to depict Egyptian society in a "state of disarray" likely to be occurring during the ]Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...
.[Habib, p]
121
Cast and characters
Aĥmad is the main character.
One character, Raouf Bey, is a male homosexual. Habib said that Raouf "subverts popular understanding of homosexuality by being unable to be brought back into the norm of heterosexual desires."[ Raouf makes advances towards Aĥmad, who initially cannot comprehend them. He is good friends with Åli.][ Habib wrote that Raouf is "an unsympathetic character" as he exploits men who do not willingly do homosexual acts but require him in order to make a living, and that Raouf's sexuality "initially appears" to be without emotion and only physical.][Habib, p]
122
Habib wrote that it appears Raouf wishes to prostitute Aĥmad but in fact he truly wants Aĥmad to be his boyfriend,[Habib, p]
122123
and while citing the works of the historian Jabarti he laments that he cannot do what he wants in the modern society despite the freedom of the past.[Habib, p]
123
Muålim Åli is the owner of the bathhouse. He gives male prostitutes to Raouf.[ Police arrest him after Kamal commits murder.][
Naåeema, a female prostitute, has her first romantic sexual relation with Ahmad.][ She comes from a poor background and prostitutes herself in order to support herself.][
Kamal, a male prostitute,][ is an employee of Åli. He murders a casino director who Habib implies is a " sugar daddy" and who is the new employer of Kamal.][ Habib wrote that the male prostitutes are "incidental to the main plot" and all originate from desperate, impoverished backgrounds.][
Samir is a male prostitute. Aĥmad tells him he should find a reliable job that has respectability, and Samir responds stating that he is poor and does not have the luxury of planning for the far future.][ Through Samir and Fatĥi, Ahmad learns that some people cannot go ahead in life through perseverance, self-education, and diligence, and that some people have to be prostitutes in order to survive.][
Fatĥi is another male prostitute.][ In a conversation with Aĥmad he tells him a concept similar to that given by Samir.][
Mohsin is an employee of the bathhouse.][
]
See also
* Cinema of Egypt
The cinema of Egypt refers to the flourishing film industry based in Cairo, sometimes also referred to as Hollywood on the Nile. Since 1976, the capital has held the annual Cairo International Film Festival, which has been accredited by the Intern ...
* '' All My Life''
* '' Pleasure and Suffering''
References
* Habib, Samar. ''Female Homosexuality in the Middle East: Histories and Representations''. Routledge
Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, ...
, July 18, 2007. , 9780415956734.
Notes
External links
* {{IMDb title, 0068672
1973 films
Egyptian LGBT-related films
1973 LGBT-related films