With the showing of its first episodes, the series “The Assassins” sparked widespread controversy on social media, and the controversy focused largely on the use of the Egyptian dialect at work instead of classical Arabic, as is usual in historical series. The attackers of the series pointed out that it deals with historical events that took place in the eleventh century AD through the story of Hassan al-Sabah, and his founding of the Assassins band, which sparked terror in that period, because of the assassinations it carried out. They consider that presenting the work in this way takes it out of the scope of historical works into dramatic works and imagination, drawing a comparison between “The Assassins” on the one hand and other works that dealt with Hassan al-Sabah’s career before, such as the Turkish series “Renaissance of the Seljuks” and the Syrian “Samarkand,” considering that it surpassed Egyptian work, and a large part of this superiority is due to the use of classical Arabic.
Critics of the use of the Egyptian colloquial dialect in historical dramas attributed this to the current generation of Egyptian artists’ lack of mastery of the Arabic language, and their inability to use it brilliantly in dramatic performance, unlike previous generations such as artists Abdullah Ghaith, Hamdi Ghaith, Mahmoud Yassin, and others. They pointed out that the hero of “The Assassins,” Hassan Al-Sabah, was Persian, and therefore it was illogical for him to speak the Egyptian dialect at work.
While supporters of using the Egyptian dialect in work found the same justification, explaining that presenting an Egyptian and Arab work about a Persian character does not require speaking in the Persian language, and this is similar to what the Turks did by presenting the series “Renaissance of the Seljuks” in the Turkish language and then dubbing it in classical Arabic, as previously mentioned. An international film was made about Queen Cleopatra in 1963, and its heroine, actress Elizabeth Taylor, did not speak the Pharaonic or Coptic language, and no reference was made to Cleopatra’s original language. Wondering why critics of “The Assassins” accepted the dubbed Turkish series and praised it, while at the same time rejecting a work that speaks Arabic but in the Egyptian dialect, mocking them: “They dubbed it.”
The head of the Entertainment Authority in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Counselor Turki Al-Sheikh, announced his support for the series and the choice of the Egyptian dialect through his Facebook account, noting that the work encouraged him to think about the step of presenting a huge work through the authority. He said: “The makers of the series (The Assassins) have the right to choose the language that suits them, and the Egyptian dialect is ancient and understood throughout the Arab world. When the Turks produce series, they are in their language, and so are foreigners in the West. The classical language may not attract a segment of the youth. I love classical, but Others may not prefer it. I watch any work by Karim Abdel Aziz, even though I have been watching Arabic works less recently, and I always aspire to reach the level and quality of Western productions. The series (The Assassins) is a huge production, and a step on the right path to reaching the international level. If a series about Pharaohs: Would it be appropriate to choose the hieroglyphic language, for example?! Certainly not in the language of the era, I sign and do better… We are now in the process of a huge Saudi production sponsored by entertainment, and I am confused about choosing classical or colloquial Arabic to spread. The step of (the Assassins) encouraged me to think.”
Egyptian artist Nabil El-Halafawi commented on his account on the “X” platform on the ongoing controversy, saying: “With his first promising and promising episodes, a controversy arose over his use of the colloquial dialect. Regardless of some who attack for suspicious political motives. Let us explain why some objected on artistic grounds. My interpretation is a personal opinion that I do not think has been presented before. Why do we resort to classical Arabic in most historical works of art, and sometimes as an alternative to the language of foreign dramatic characters? The answer is simple: since in our normal daily conversations we use the colloquial dialect, the need arose to use another language that is understandable to the viewer, to achieve the temporal dimension of history or the linguistic dimension of the foreigner without the need for translation. The method was classical. Although this does not prevent some makers of artistic work from sacrificing coverage of these two dimensions for the sake of easier, more intimate, and more widespread communication, using the current colloquial dialect as an item within the prior, unwritten agreement between them and the recipient to believe that contemporary artists are historical or foreign figures. The same opinion was adopted by a large number of defenders of the series, considering that “the use of the Egyptian dialect is one of the most beautiful features of the series, because classical Arabic is a language that the street has never used in any of the countries in the region.”
The work received wide praise for its technical level and massive production, and the distinction of the artistic elements of direction, photography, and artistic performance.
The series “The Assassins” is written by Abdel Rahim Kamal, directed by Peter Mimi, and a number of artists participate in the starring role, including: Karim Abdel Aziz, Fathi Abdel Wahab, and Nicholas Moawad, and scenes from it were filmed in various countries, including Malta and Kazakhstan.
