Cinema has expressed the results and positive aspects of the 1952 revolution, triggered by the Free Officers 70 years ago, to remain the archive of great events. Egyptian cinema has documented this historic event and focused on addressing the vicissitudes of the revolution through many films.
For this reason, many works have been released in the cinema that tell the story of the beginning of the revolution, its rise, and the reasons that led it…
Let’s look at the most important cinematic works dealing with the events of the July 23 revolution:
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• “God is with us”:
The film “God is with us” by Imad Hamdi and Faten Hamama took the initiative to address the event, and deals with the story of the great writer Ihsan Abdel Quddous, directed by Ahmed Badrakhan, and also starring Mahmoud Al-Meligy, Magda, Shukri Sarhan and Hussein Riad. The film dealt with the officers who would participate in the war in Palestine and then be injured, which led to anger among the army men, and the Free Officers organization was formed to avenge the homeland, and the events unfolded they end with the overthrow of the king of the country and the army taking over the reins of government.
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• “Answer my heart”:
The film ‘Reply My Heart’, shown in 1957, is considered to be one of the most famous cinematic films which dealt with the 23rd of July revolution and life in pre-revolutionary Egypt.
The film followed the story of a poor young man, Ibn Janaini, known as “Ali”, who loved a rich princess named “Enji”, but their love did not see the light of day in light of the class distinction that prevailed at the time , and her father’s categorical rejection of that marriage, until their relationship becomes complicated when her father learns of their love, so he expels father Ali, and Engy’s threat that he will harass her lover if she doesn’t he pulls back. from the relationship and gets engaged to someone else. Ali’s life is turned upside down and his and Engy’s lives become complicated as he feels that Engy has betrayed him. The film ends with the July 23 revolution.
The film stars Shukri Sarhan, Maryam Fakhr El Din, Ahmed Mazhar, Hussein Riyad, Salah Zulfiqar and Rushdi Abaza, and was written by Youssef El Sebaei and directed by Ezz El Din Zulfiqar.
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Port Said:
A film chronicling the short wars witnessed by the modern world, by Izz al-Din Zulfiqar, which was shown on July 8, 1957, that is, less than 7 months after the clearing out of the tripartite aggression against Egypt on December 23, 1956. The the film’s exterior scenes were shot in their natural locations in the valiant city of Port Said. Both at the time of the assault and after retiring, as his interior scenes were in Studio Misr, the film was a black and white “Scoop” and his screen time was 130 minutes.
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• «In our house a man»:
One of the most famous films that dealt with the events of the July 23 revolution was the film “In Our House is a Man”, which was shown in 1961, to show the struggle of the Egyptians against the British occupation. During his events, he told the story of a young man named Ibrahim Hamdi who assassinated the prime minister by collaborating with colonialism, and managed to escape after being arrested and took refuge in the house of his university colleague, Mohi, who had no political activity. Samia, who wants to marry her at the same time as Ibrahim’s presence, then takes advantage of the situation to hasten his marriage contract with Samia, who rejects it, and the events continue.
The film stars Omar Sharif, Rushdi Abaza, Zahra Al-Ula, Zubaida Tharwat and Hassan Youssef. The story, screenplay and dialogues were written by Ihsan Abdel Quddous and Youssef Issa and directed by Henry Barakat, who also contributed script and dialogue writing. .
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• «Cairo 30»:
The film “Cairo 30” was shown in 1966 and the events of the film revealed the degree of corruption Egypt lived in during the days of the king and his entourage through the story of a poor young man named Mahjoub Abd al- Dayem, an expatriate from Upper Egypt living a miserable life in Cairo, where he meets the son of his village, “Salem al-Akhshidi”. the ministry in which Salem works, but she also offers him to marry Ihsan, Qasim Bey’s lover, on the condition that Qasim Bey continues to visit her once a week with her husband’s knowledge of her work.
The film stars “Souad Hosni, Ahmed Mazhar, Hamdi Ahmed, Tawfiq Al-Dhan and Ahmed Tawfiq.” It was written by Naguib Mahfouz, while the screenplay and dialogues were written by Salah Abu Seif, Ali Al-Zarqani, Lotfi Al-Khouli, and directed by Salah Abu Seif.
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“Sunset and Sunrise”:
The film traces the bitter life of the daughter of “Azmi Pasha”, the head of the political police during the reign of King Farouk, who resorts to killing her husband after discovering her cheating with his friend. For a national organization whose goal is to get rid of tyranny.
The film stars Souad Hosni, Mahmoud El-Meligy, Rushdie Abaza, written by Raafat El-Meehy and Gamal Hammad and directed by Kamal El-Sheikh.
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Soft hands:
While the film “Soft Hands” dealt with the life of a prince after the July 23 revolution, his wealth taken from him, and he lives in his palace among his family’s medals, and interrupts his daughter because one of them married a people, and events unfold so that they know they are in the midst of a working-class society that must be like them.
The film stars Ahmed Mazhar, Salah Zulfikar, Sabah, Maryam Fakhr El-Din, Laila Taher, Ahmed Khamis, Hussein Aser and directed by Mahmoud Zulfiqar.
* Journalist and folklore researcher
