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Malatily Bathhouse
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Wikipedia article
'Malaily Bathhouse' ( "amam al-Malaily") is a 1973 Egyptian film directed by Salah Abu Seif. The main actors are Shams al-Baroudi and Yusuf Shban. It is adapted from a novel by Ismeel 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. [https://books.google.com/books?id=LylZ8mvsPlIC&pg=PT120 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'.
Plot
The beginning shows what Habib calls a "long scenic tribute" to Cairo 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. [https://books.google.com/books?id=LylZ8mvsPlIC&pg=PT120 120]-[https://books.google.com/books?id=LylZ8mvsPlIC&pg=PT121 121].
The main character, Amad, 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, Ismailia. Ali, the owner of the Malatily Bathhouse, offers to let him stay there for free. Amad encounters several characters there, including Naeema, a prostitute who he becomes obsessed with, and Raouf, a male homosexual. Ali later has Amad work as his accountant. Amad eventually has sexual intercourse with Naeema. Amad 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.Habib, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=LylZ8mvsPlIC&pg=PT121 121].
Cast and characters
'Amad' 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 Amad, who initially cannot comprehend them. He is good friends with li. 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. [https://books.google.com/books?id=LylZ8mvsPlIC&pg=PT122 122]. Habib wrote that it appears Raouf wishes to prostitute Amad but in fact he truly wants Amad to be his boyfriend,Habib, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=LylZ8mvsPlIC&pg=PT122 122]-[https://books.google.com/books?id=LylZ8mvsPlIC&pg=PT123 123]. 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. [https://books.google.com/books?id=LylZ8mvsPlIC&pg=PT123 123].
'Mulim li' is the owner of the bathhouse. He gives male prostitutes to Raouf. Police arrest him after Kamal commits murder.
'Naeema', 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 li. 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. Amad 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 Fati, 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.
'Fati' is another male prostitute. In a conversation with Amad he tells him a concept similar to that given by Samir.
'Mohsin' is an employee of the bathhouse.
See also
* Cinema of Egypt
* 'All My Life'
* 'Pleasure and Suffering'
References
* Habib, Samar. 'Female Homosexuality in the Middle East: Histories and Representations'. Routledge, July 18, 2007. , 9780415956734.
Notes
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