The genie “Hawjan” resembles a human… and the Arab Superman falls into the “Red Sea”
Although there are many topics that can be transferred to the screen; For years, we have noticed a tendency to make strange films about jinn and spirits, including the film “Hawjan” by Yasser Al-Yasiri, which opened the current session of the “Red Sea International Film Festival” in Saudi Arabia.
Since the “Dubai Festival” and “Gulf Films”, Gulf films have been made that deal with this aspect, in which the story is often mixed with the desert nature and the human presence, against the folklore background, within an interesting mixture on two levels: inspired by dark imaginary stories, and on the level of the phenomenon as a whole.
At the same time, there is an indication that interest in this aspect is limited to the presence of other films that have different concerns and issues that can be raised about Gulf people and their aspirations, in a world whose individuals are moving confidently towards tomorrow.
The opening film of the third session of the festival witnessed a large popular attendance as soon as it started. There was silence and the applause stopped, so that the audience was taken in by watching a work within the framework of exotic cinema. What is new about it is that it takes place in a world close to the big fantasy films that American cinema draws from every year.
The novel “Hawjan” is turned into a cinematic work (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Its events take place in the city of Jeddah, and its hero is Hawjan (Baraa Al-Alam), a jinn who lives with his jinn mother and jinn grandfather, and is absolutely no different from any human. Houjan does not know anything about his father, and we in turn will not know much about him. The director uses this absence as an additional activation of the great mystery that lives within the scope of his character. The young man meets the beautiful and educated girl (Nour Al-Khadra), who belongs to a family that lives in this house, and Hojan finds himself in a conflict with a jinn who wants to marry her. The wheels of the film turn at a fast and controlled pace in most cases, paving the way for a struggle of wills between Hawjan, who contradicts the goals of the other jinn in controlling other humans.
The critic cannot help but notice that the film follows the current “trend” of Hollywood films in this field. It and others are like saying that we, as Arab cinema, can achieve what they are doing there. Therefore, these films do not escape the fact that they are fashionable clones.
Al-Yasiri’s film, regardless of this aspect, is notable for its execution, rhythm, and ease of communication with the audience, despite the topics and events that take its story in a different direction.
The young Saudi actor Mohsen Mansour in “Hawjan” embodies the character of the young man Iyad (his media office).
Flying human
The film by Tunisian director Mohamed Ben Attia, “Beyond the Mountain,” was also shown, which is also a fantasy, albeit with a different story. He is the representative of Tunisian cinema in the competition, revolving around an idea that can be developed in more than one dimension.
“Beyond the Mountain” is not about jinn and humans, but rather about a man who does not fully understand what he is. He is human, but he has the ability to fly, even though the ability to land safely, without injury, is not included in the “pledge of allegiance” or among the skills.
Some of his flying appears to be a suicide attempt. It is not clear why he keeps casting himself from higher classes, because the actual story could begin a third of an hour into the film, when the man, whose name is Rafiq (Majed Mastoura), kidnaps his son from school and takes him in his car to a remote mountainous area. He asks him to stay where he is and walks away from him, climbing up a mountain. He throws himself from his summit and swims in space for a while, before he decides to land, losing consciousness, and returns with him and his son, a shepherd who can hardly believe what he saw.
The shepherd (Samer Bsharat) is content with realizing that Rafiq is not an ordinary human being, and cannot be one. It takes time to recover from a fall, and then here he was in his car again, with his son next to him and the shepherd in the back seat. The car drives along bumpy roads, before stopping in a deserted place to run out of fuel. The three improvise in search of shelter, and in that isolated area they find only a house in which a family of a married couple and their children lives.
What happens inside the house moves the film into a state of suspense between invaders and defenders. The first team controls the second, then the owners of the house take over. Rafiq takes his son and flies with him. The little boy almost falls (just as Margot Kidder almost escaped from Superman’s hands when Christopher Reeve flew into her in “Superman”, 1978). But the father caught him before it was too late.
There is a gap that the script could not fill, and the director left it visible on the screen. It was possible to delve deeper into the case, instead of presenting it without understanding its causes. Why can Rafiq fly, and why can’t he land safely on the ground? The answer does not require a long search in the film, but rather just a clarification scene.
In addition, what the film wants to say in the end is not clear. It was important to know why the shepherd left his sheep and joined a companion. Some issues can be overcome if justifications exist. In this case, the closest thing was to depict the shepherd dissatisfied with his work or finding himself in the company of a man who could take shelter in him. In all cases, one phrase is enough to put this into perspective.
The technical aspects are okay, and there is no need to consume a lot of effects. What we see of her on screen is enough.
John Kinnaman in “Silent Night” (Red Sea Festival)
Long silence
In the “World Masterpieces” section, John Woo’s new film “Silent Night” was shown, which cinemas began showing internationally. It is a wild imagination, but on a different level. It does not enter the maze of souls and does not rise from the ground, but only from reality. Brian (Joel Kinnamen) loses his wife, who leaves him without saying goodbye (which makes it unclear why), and then loses his young son murdered. Will he let the crime go unpunished? of course not.
At the beginning of the film, two cars are shot at by the occupants of the other car. John Woo stretches the scene, breaking through, minutes into the movie, the logic. The distance between the two cars driving side by side is only half a meter, and yet the bullets do not appear to hit anyone. This is due to the director’s desire to prolong the battle in preparation for the death of his hero’s son, who was playing in the alley, witnessing an exchange of gunfire.
While the chase comes at the beginning, “Silent Night” continues, revealing a story of revenge that does not differ, in writing or plot, from many stories of revenge. The limited difference is that it indulges in fantasy, according to what the director deems necessary. This satisfies the desire of a wide audience, but does not provide a new addition to the previous stories.
There are a few films with the same title, but they belong to horror. Here the issue is more complicated. The big bad (Harold Torres) shoots Brian in the neck, preventing him from speaking. This is not a huge deal for viewers, as this recurring character cannot say anything that the previous lookalikes have not said.
Brian’s actions, in any case, are what the film wants to push for. Now (after he has come out of treatment), his feeling of revenge has become more intense, and the director will launch him after the criminals with all the innovations that modern cinema has in this way. John Waugh Scott, his hero, uses an additional, successful and different effect. So; While the story uses the well-known intuitive story, the film finds its difference in the silence of its hero from speaking.
