Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875
27 September - 3 October 2007
Issue No. 864
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/864/cu4.htm
A monarch rehabilitated
Jailan Halawi goes royal
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A new reading of the life of Egypt's last monarch is all the unimaginatively
titled television serial Al-Malik Farouk (King Farouk), showing on satellite
channels this Ramadan, has to offer. But in context that's quite a lot,
actually. Ever since Egypt was declared a republic in 1953, there have been
very few positive or humane portrayals of members of Mohammed Ali Pasha's
family, Egypt's rulers since the Ottoman governor came to power in 1805 and
until the 1952 Revolution. This, despite the fact the Pasha himself is often
hailed as the country's greatest moderniser. Whether depicted in the cinema, on
television or the radio, or indeed in books, the royal line he managed to
perpetuate has been consistently portrayed as a string of corrupt and immoral
tyrants whose only concern was to rob the country of its resources, subjugate
its people - often through torture while squandering their money on the
excesses of vanity and revel in scandalous sins. Except perhaps for one or two
portrayals of Khedive Ismail, not once were the royals seen as human beings
with emotions and concerns, nor was any loyalty they might have felt towards
the country or the people acknowledged. In this sense Al-Malik Farouk -
especially being the mega production that it is - is unprecedented: it presents
an objective version of history with the full range of pros and cons.
The story starts in the reign of King Fouad II, Farouk's father, which
witnessed the drafting of Egypt's first modern constitution in 1923, when the
modern regime was for the first time reined in by constitutional monarchy. The
serial showed how King Fouad encouraged and patronised the revival of
scientific and educational societies and institutes, which he took a personal
interest in establishing. Speaking of which, Fouad's personal life with Queen
Nazli, mother to his heir Farouk and three daughters, is presented truthfully
as a rather less successful affair. Farouk had a tough upbringing, with Fouad
isolating his children, forbidding them from mixing with children of their age
and keeping them within the courtly confines of the palace, with its numerous
rules and regulations - all of which was abundantly compensated for by the love
and affection of the charismatic Nazli, who left a deep mark on Farouk's
character and to whom he would remain loyal as king even when she irreparably
embarrassed him, her unbecoming blunders leaving him fuming. In this way
Farouk's family, far from being portrayed as angels, are simply dealt with as
human beings, with the factors contributing to the way they behaved in public
explained from a humane rather than judgmental stand.
One example of this is when following the death of Fouad, an oppressive family
figure, Queen Nazli manages to protect Farouk's right to the thrown in the face
of numerous conspiracies, endeavouring to surround him with as many trustworthy
advisors as possible since he came to power at the age of 16. Along the same
lines, Nazli emerges as a woman whose unhappy marriage and years of deprivation
resulted in a sense of loneliness and a thirst for passion that would propel
her ruthlessly into a string of indiscriminate affairs after she failed to
marry the one man she truly loved, Ahmad Hassanein Pasha, on the grounds that
she was the Queen Mother. Neither Ahmad Hassanein nor Farouk could understand
her repeated attempts at conveying the message that being a royal has not
stopped her from having a woman's needs, or that having suffered so much with
King Fouad it is now her basic right to live happily with the man she loves.
This conflict will eventually rupture the relationship between Nazli and her
son, leaving Farouk on the verge of breakdown as the image he had of his mother
is distorted by her behaviour - which the press relentlessly condemned -
deepening his insecurity and impacting his own marriage with his beloved Queen
Farida.
Such troubles coincided with the many, many disputes the king was having with
his political opponents and potentially fatal conflicts with those who strove
to overthrow him. How difficult can life be when you have no one to trust, when
you must be on your guard lest your nearest and dearest should be engineering
your downfall, when your own mother fails you and the love of your life follows
suit? This is what the serial seems to be saying as it blows life into Farouk
the human being, encouraging a level of empathy rarely seen with characters
based on the royal family. Produced by the Saudi-owned satellite channel MBC,
Al-Malik Farouk is broadcast not only on MBC but also on Orbit; interestingly,
it remains unwelcome on national television, for which it was originally
written 15 years ago, and rejected on ultimately political grounds. Written by
Lamis Gabr, a medical doctor who is also an avid student of history, and edited
by the well-known historian Yunan Labib Rizk, even when MBC decided to produce
it Egyptian officials remained reluctant to help, refusing to give the crew
permission to film on location in the royal palaces and other real-life
locations which were nonetheless ingeniously substituted - and in the end
Al-Malik Farouk came out brilliantly, thanks in large part to its generous
budget, the meticulous direction of Syrian director Hatem Aly and the sheer
talent of the cast - reaching as many Egyptians as it would have on national
television and acquiring a place of prominence among a handful of well received
serials in Ramadan this year. In unexpected ways, the monarch triumphs in the
end.
Al-Malik Farouk is a work of art and a delightful embodiment of team spirit,
with all the parties involved exerting their utmost to produce what the
audience would come to see as a masterpiece. Excellent casting is perhaps best
exemplified by Syrian actor Taim Al-Hassan in the role of the king: not only
does he give a masterful performance - everyone on the cast does, too - but he
physically resembles the king. Wafaa Amer is a perfect Queen Nazli, expressing
all the pain and longing of a lonely woman whose fate as queen and queen mother
will forever stand in the way of her happiness. As Queen Farida, with the mere
look of her eyes, Menna Fadali brilliantly conveys the constant fear of failing
to give her husband an heir, since her first born was a girl. All in all,
though thanks to contemporary communications technology Egyptians did get to
see the serial, it feels like a great pity that such a meticulous production
should have been barred from Egyptian TV. It presents a great opportunity for
younger generations to have a taste of what it might have felt to live in the
1930s and 1940s, as well as rectifying misconceptions they will have acquired
from the media and history textbooks. After all, it underlines many of the
country's historical virtues: the deeply rooted sense of national belonging
with which Muslims and Copts lived side by side, pooling solidarity against the
invader; the coming into being of the Wafd Party and its role in the formation
of a political consciousness; the liberal values that were then the norm, with
the right to protest and press freedom firmly entrenched and everyone feeling
more or less secure about speaking their mind.
Indeed, according to one viewer interviewed on television, "Grandma always
advised me not to believe that Egypt's monarchy was only about corruption,
suppression and immorality. My mother seconded her opinion, urging me not to
fall into the trap of reading their history as it was written by their
opponents. Meanwhile, I am so grateful as are many people who have watched
Al-Malik Farouk because this face of history was finally unveiled. Each day my
family and neighbours wait in anticipation for the serial to start and as we
follow the action we realise that our king was not as previously portrayed a
ruthless womaniser and spoilt brat, but a human being who suffered."
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