The review of The Head of the Family, the debut film by Egyptian director Omar El Zohairy which points the finger at the condition of women and the patriarchy.
In the darkness of the big screen we hear desperate screams, followed by the crackling of the fire. Only a few moments later, when the image becomes clear, does the confirmation of what our hearing had suggested arrive: a man set himself on fire in front of a factory. The gesture of desperation, albeit disconnected (?) from the core of the story, anticipates what awaits us in the dirty and gloomy mining town, the scene of the story narrated by the debutant Omar El Zohairy in The breadwinner. A non-place which, despite the criticisms rained down on the director for his representation of today’s Egypt, does not seem to have a precise location.
Equally anonymous is the housewife played with dedication by Demyana Nassar. Looking down, chin on her chest, hair hidden by a handkerchief, we see the nape of her neck, hands, back while she is bent over to clean, wash, cook, rock her three children, remove dust from work shoes without ever stopping. The choice never to indicate her name recalls the deprivation of identity that the Arab patriarchate imposes, confirmed by her submissive attitude towards her husband who orders what to eat, how to behave and gives the money necessary to run the family by extracting dirty banknotes from a dented metal box. Everything changes when her husband is turned into a chicken by a self-styled wizard hired for his son’s birthday party. The transformation, seemingly irreversible, will force the wife to take action to keep the family going while she looks for a way to settle debts, pay the overdue rent and take care of her husband, who continues to cause problems even in bird form.
A woman’s silent struggle for emancipation
As the review de points out The breadwinner, everything is dirty and shabby around the protagonist. Walls, floors, clothes – the result of the work of set designer Asem Ali – appear worn out, peeling, stained and sooty. From time to time clouds of black smoke burst into the house from the window, indicating the extreme proximity to the factory which provides work and nourishment but which, at the same time, represents a form of slavery. The same slavery outlined in the relationship between husband and wife in this biting satirical depiction of Egyptian society.
With his harsh and dry style, his propensity for symmetries and his fixed shots, Omar El Zohairy restores the sense of drama of the human condition in a film that sacrifices the word favoring the image, inviting the viewer to scrutinize carefully what is proposed to him to form his own opinion. The head of the family stages a woman’s silent struggle for emancipation in a society that is blind and deaf to her needs, in a world devoid of compassion. Faced with the narrow-mindedness of the institutions, the greed of doctors and veterinarians and the unjust rules imposed by the factory owner, who does not admit women but accepts that small children are hired, the only acquaintance ready to lend a hand does not hide his ulterior motive. Nothing is done for nothing.
The 10 best female revenge movies: when revenge turns pink
The power of style
To make it even more effective denounces patriarchy and social injustices contained in The breadwinner is the tone of the film, which oscillates between the ironic and the surreal. Faced with the insurmountable difficulties that the wife is called to face, it is enough to move one’s gaze to the chicken scratching around on the sheet of the double bed or lying in agony with its paws in the air after having eaten too much to grasp the humorous side of the situation. The same lack of logical explanation for the magical transformation gone wrong is accepted with resignation by the villagers, who are no longer amazed by the matter, declassifying it to an event of everyday life like the others.
Like an Arab Aki Kaurismaki, Omar El Zohairy he doesn’t bother to explain, but puts the audience in front of small and big dramas by focusing on the tragicomic condition of human existence. Unlike what is shown on the rickety TV that is always on, your Egypt has none of the noisy and colorful world with which we usually paint it, but it has the appearance of a post-atomic and desert dystopian town that looks at Max Max. The construction of the locations, combined with the rarefied and symbolic directing style and slow pace, allow El Zohairy to set the tone of the film, intensifying its impact on the audience. The result is a surprising and effective first film, embellished by a more than satisfactory ending in its chilling nastiness.
Conclusions
The review of The Head of the Family highlights the great qualities of a surprising and effective debut film which exploits a lucid and symbolic visual style, in which the image dominates over the word, to denounce the condition of patriarchy in which Egyptian women of the lower classes live bass. Social injustice is conveyed by an unsettling and surreal film that contains surprising findings.
Because we like it
- It is an astounding first work.
- The interpenetration between history and visual style, which place us in front of a layered film full of symbolism.
- The incredible scenographic and photographic work on interiors and exteriors.
What’s wrong
- It takes some time, and perhaps at least a review, to fully grasp the richness and depth of the film.
