Nothing But That reintroduces the forgotten genre in festival s main competition
Mafeesh Gheir Keda (Nothing But That)Director: Khaled El Haggar: Script: Kawthar Mostafa and Azza ShalabyActors: Nabila Ebeid, Khaled Abol Naga, Sawsan Badr, Ahmed Azmi, Arwa and Rola MahmoudBy Sarah El Sirgany Daily Star Egypt staff
CAIRO: I was preparing myself for the worst; what else could I expect from a musical, whose lead actors have no background in singing?
Featuring the comeback of 80s – 90s star Nabila Ebeid, Mafeesh Gheir Keda (None But That) was, to my utter surprise, not a sleazy excuse to shove the aging actress down our throat.
Although Ebeid was the central character, she didn t take the lion s share of the film, giving room for other, more-deserving actors to shine. And the whole musical theme didn t turn out to be so bad.
Thanks to a strong well-crafted intro, the film opened on the right foot.
As the opening credits rolled, the music started playing. Using simple choreography and a brief solo number, each character introduced themselves. Omar Khayrat s score, with its trademark fusion of Egyptian tunes and symphonic music, attracted the viewers. And, surprise, surprise, the actors didn t mess up the singing.
Not bad, I whispered to myself.
The down side is that the intro gave away the ending. This is the story and it is the same ending, the actors sang in unison. And they actually spelled out director Khaled El Hagar s message: All we have to do is dream and you have to interpret it.
We try to present part of reality, El Hagar said at a later press conference.
The film tells story of a single mother, who preps her teenage daughter to be a star by making a sleazy music video.
Loosely based on Bertolt Brecht s sung ballet The Seven Deadly Sins, the film explores moral deterioration through the rise of this family in society ranks. The moral base of each character, as explained in the opening song, remains largely unchanged.
The performance was the main sell of this movie. Musicals were a trend in the 50s and 60s, but faded out in the 70s. Resurrecting this genre was courageous. But this production didn t quite meet the challenge.
The up-side is that the director circumvented the vocal inexperience of his cast by using a chorus to keep the solo numbers to a minimum. But although this saved us from an audio fiasco, it defeated the purpose of a musical where the actors should do the singing, not back-up singers behind the camera.
Khaled Abol Naga, who played the greedy record producer, did well, with uninhibited moves and a resonating voice in his solo numbers. A bit more vocal training, however, would have made him shine.
Bottom line is without Khayrat s music, the whole production could have fallen apart. Even simplifying the music didn t help the actors much.
In the song-free scenes, Sawsan Badr stole the show with comic scenes that combined sarcasm with a skillful performance. She certainly out-shined seasoned co-star Ebeid.
Ebeid s performance seemed promising at the beginning, but the numerous cosmetic surgeries she have left her face expressionless. Sometimes you could hardly tell if she was happy, sad or angry.
Although the plot and score would matter to critics and jury members they remain irrelevant to box office revenues.
Will viewers choose Saad El Soghayar and belly dancer Dina, or a musical starring Nabila Ebeid?
The cast of None But That, with a conviction they are presenting a flawless art-house production, remain hopeful, with previous battles declaring El Soghayar and his clique winners.
Better luck next time.
