La Anam
Encyclopedia
La Anam is a 1957 Egypt
ian melodrama
film. The film follows the intricate story of Nadia Lutfi, a daughter of divorced parents who suffers from Electra complex
, which drives her to intervene in her father's relationships.
Directed by the Egyptian
film director Salah Abu Seif
, this film is based on a novel with the same name
written by the Egyptian novelist Ihsan Abdel Quddous
. The film, which is currently ranked the 29th best Egyptian film
by the cinema committee of the Supreme Council of Culture in Cairo, starred Faten Hamama
and Yehia Chahine
, along with five other prominent Egyptian actors. It was released on DVD as part of the Egyptian Cinema Classics film collection. La Anam is one of the ten first Egyptian colored films.
plays Nadia Lutfi, a young woman who belongs to an aristocratic, upper-class family. After her parents divorce each other, her father wins custody of her. She lives with her father (Yehia Chahine
) and over the years develops a very close and strong relationship with him to the extent of being sexually attracted towards him, an obsessive behavior known as Electra complex
.
At the age of 16, she plunges into a premature relationship with Mustafah (Imad Hamdi), a writer and journalist who is quite older a bit than she is. Meanwhile, her father meets and falls in love with another woman, Safia (Myriam Fakhr Eddine). He decides to marry her, which Nadia is forced to accept. However, her father gradually starts spending more time with his new wife, which galls and displeases Nadia who does not receive an equal amount of love and attention anymore. This compels and drives her to step in and ruin their relationship. Now seeing Safia as her enemy, Nadia plots for revenge from her stepmother. Nadia accuses Safia of having an affair with Aziz (Omar Sharif
), Nadia's young uncle.
To convince her father, Nadia had to ask her friend Kawthar (Hind Rostom), a voluptuous and licentious woman, to seduce her father. Nadia's successful conspiracy results in a divorce between Safia and her father. Not only that, Nadia's father decides to marry her. Enticed by the wealth of Nadia's father, she agrees to marry him. Nadia is devastated when she discovers that Kawthar is having an affair with another young man, Samir (Rushdy Abaza
), realizing that Kawthar is only living with her father for his fortunes.
Mustafah, who had secretly admired Safia, proposed to her after her divorce with Nadia's father. Nadia conceals the truth from her father, worried that such a revelation might strike and shatter him. Her father finds about Samir. Nadia, finding no escape route, lies and tells her father that he is her fiancé. Kawthar nefariously adds that Nadia and Samir are getting married, which Nadia is forced to accept. On the night of her wedding, Nadia shocks her father and the wedding attendants with the startling truth, leaving her father traumatized.
on November 31, 1957 and was met with a lot of success and recognition in Egypt and the Arab-speaking world. This was mainly due to the star-studded cast and the fact that it was one of the earliest colored Egyptian films. The film has maintained its popularity and has been selected amongst the best Egyptian films in 1996 by the Egyptian Film association. However, due to its controversial topic, it wasn't frequently broadcasted on television.
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
film. The film follows the intricate story of Nadia Lutfi, a daughter of divorced parents who suffers from Electra complex
Electra complex
In Neo-Freudian psychology, the Electra complex, as proposed by Carl Gustav Jung, is a girl’s psychosexual competition with mother for possession of father. In the course of her psychosexual development, the complex is the girl’s phallic stage formation of a discrete sexual identity; a boy’s...
, which drives her to intervene in her father's relationships.
Directed by the Egyptian
Egyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
film director Salah Abu Seif
Salah Abu Seif
Salah Abu Seif was one of the most famous Egyptian film directors. He is considered to be the godfather of the realistic cinema in Egypt...
, this film is based on a novel with the same name
La Anam (novel)
La Anam is a drama novel by the prominent Egyptian novelist Ihsan Abdel Quddous.- Plot summary :The novel's main character, Nadia, is a spoiled young woman, whose parents are divorced. Their divorce has led to a strong relationship between Nadia and her father. Her father tries to move on with...
written by the Egyptian novelist Ihsan Abdel Quddous
Ihsan Abdel Quddous
Ihsan Abdel Quddous was an Egyptian writer, novelist, and journalist and editor in the Al Akhbar and Al-Ahram newspapers. He is known to have written many novels that have been adapted in films....
. The film, which is currently ranked the 29th best Egyptian film
Cinema of Egypt
The cinema of Egypt refers to the flourishing Egyptian Arabic-language film industry based in Cairo, the capital of Egypt. Since 1976, Cairo has held the annual Cairo International Film Festival, which has been accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations. There is also...
by the cinema committee of the Supreme Council of Culture in Cairo, starred Faten Hamama
Faten Hamama
Faten Hamama is an Egyptian producer and an acclaimed actress of film, television, and theatre. She was regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from melodramas to historical films and occasional comedies, though her chief successes were romantic dramas...
and Yehia Chahine
Yehia Chahine
Yehia Chahine was an Egyptian film producer and an actor of film and theater. He is most notable for his role in the film adaptations of the Cairo Trilogy, a trilogy written by the Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz.- Life and career :Yehia Chahine was born in Imbaba, Giza. His...
, along with five other prominent Egyptian actors. It was released on DVD as part of the Egyptian Cinema Classics film collection. La Anam is one of the ten first Egyptian colored films.
Plot
Faten HamamaFaten Hamama
Faten Hamama is an Egyptian producer and an acclaimed actress of film, television, and theatre. She was regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from melodramas to historical films and occasional comedies, though her chief successes were romantic dramas...
plays Nadia Lutfi, a young woman who belongs to an aristocratic, upper-class family. After her parents divorce each other, her father wins custody of her. She lives with her father (Yehia Chahine
Yehia Chahine
Yehia Chahine was an Egyptian film producer and an actor of film and theater. He is most notable for his role in the film adaptations of the Cairo Trilogy, a trilogy written by the Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz.- Life and career :Yehia Chahine was born in Imbaba, Giza. His...
) and over the years develops a very close and strong relationship with him to the extent of being sexually attracted towards him, an obsessive behavior known as Electra complex
Electra complex
In Neo-Freudian psychology, the Electra complex, as proposed by Carl Gustav Jung, is a girl’s psychosexual competition with mother for possession of father. In the course of her psychosexual development, the complex is the girl’s phallic stage formation of a discrete sexual identity; a boy’s...
.
At the age of 16, she plunges into a premature relationship with Mustafah (Imad Hamdi), a writer and journalist who is quite older a bit than she is. Meanwhile, her father meets and falls in love with another woman, Safia (Myriam Fakhr Eddine). He decides to marry her, which Nadia is forced to accept. However, her father gradually starts spending more time with his new wife, which galls and displeases Nadia who does not receive an equal amount of love and attention anymore. This compels and drives her to step in and ruin their relationship. Now seeing Safia as her enemy, Nadia plots for revenge from her stepmother. Nadia accuses Safia of having an affair with Aziz (Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif is an Egyptian actor who has starred in Hollywood films including Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and Funny Girl. He has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won two Golden Globe Awards.-Early life:...
), Nadia's young uncle.
To convince her father, Nadia had to ask her friend Kawthar (Hind Rostom), a voluptuous and licentious woman, to seduce her father. Nadia's successful conspiracy results in a divorce between Safia and her father. Not only that, Nadia's father decides to marry her. Enticed by the wealth of Nadia's father, she agrees to marry him. Nadia is devastated when she discovers that Kawthar is having an affair with another young man, Samir (Rushdy Abaza
Rushdy Abaza
Rushdy Said Bughdady Abaza was an Egyptian actor. He died of cancer at the age of 53.-Family:...
), realizing that Kawthar is only living with her father for his fortunes.
Mustafah, who had secretly admired Safia, proposed to her after her divorce with Nadia's father. Nadia conceals the truth from her father, worried that such a revelation might strike and shatter him. Her father finds about Samir. Nadia, finding no escape route, lies and tells her father that he is her fiancé. Kawthar nefariously adds that Nadia and Samir are getting married, which Nadia is forced to accept. On the night of her wedding, Nadia shocks her father and the wedding attendants with the startling truth, leaving her father traumatized.
Cast
- Faten HamamaFaten HamamaFaten Hamama is an Egyptian producer and an acclaimed actress of film, television, and theatre. She was regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from melodramas to historical films and occasional comedies, though her chief successes were romantic dramas...
as Nadia Lutfi - Yehia ChahineYehia ChahineYehia Chahine was an Egyptian film producer and an actor of film and theater. He is most notable for his role in the film adaptations of the Cairo Trilogy, a trilogy written by the Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz.- Life and career :Yehia Chahine was born in Imbaba, Giza. His...
as Nadia's father - Mariam Fakhr EddineMariam Fakhr EddineMariam Fakhr Eddine is an Egyptian actress from a Circassian origin and screen legend.She was Born in the city of Fayoum in Egypt, from an Egyptian Muslim Father and a Christian Hungarian Mother.-Filmography:...
as Safia - Imad Hamdi as Mustafah
- Hind Rostom as Kawthar
- Rushdy AbazaRushdy AbazaRushdy Said Bughdady Abaza was an Egyptian actor. He died of cancer at the age of 53.-Family:...
as Samir - Omar SharifOmar SharifOmar Sharif is an Egyptian actor who has starred in Hollywood films including Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and Funny Girl. He has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won two Golden Globe Awards.-Early life:...
as Aziz
Reception
La Anam premiered at the Cinema Miami theater in CairoCairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
on November 31, 1957 and was met with a lot of success and recognition in Egypt and the Arab-speaking world. This was mainly due to the star-studded cast and the fact that it was one of the earliest colored Egyptian films. The film has maintained its popularity and has been selected amongst the best Egyptian films in 1996 by the Egyptian Film association. However, due to its controversial topic, it wasn't frequently broadcasted on television.
Trivia
- The well-known Egyptian actress Nadia LutfiNadia LutfiNadia Lutfi , the daughter of an Egyptian father who was an accountant and a Polish mother, was one of the most popular actresses during the final phase of Egyptian cinema's "Golden Age".-Life and career:...
got her stage name from Nadia Lutfi in La Anam.