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Omar Sharif’s Comeback Movie a Non-starter

ABU DHABI — Gone are the glorious days of “Lawrence of Arabia” or “Doctor Zhivago” for Omar Sharif. Rumours that the Egyptian actor is going through his own financial crises have been circulating worldwide for quite a while, but how deep this crisis could be for him to accept the role in “The Traveller”?

His latest movie, which also marks Sharif’s comeback to the big screen, was the Middle East International Film Festival’s (MEIFF) choice for the opening night gala. It was also the first screening in the MEIFF’s narrative feature competition.

As the movie rolled on at the Emirates Palace on Thursday night, more and more people walked out of the auditorium.

The “Traveller”, by Ahmed Maher, also starring Lebanese singer Cyrine Abdel Nour, is a grand fiasco. From the opening shot to the last the film offers nothing but frustration.

The script synopsis sounds good: towards the end of his life, Hassan, a rather perverted character, recollects three key moments in his life. In 1948, he has to deliver a telegram to Nour, a young woman, on a cruise liner in Port Said. Seeing Nour, he pretends to be the love of her life and abuses her, claiming to have fallen in love with her in the process. When the real lover shows up and marries Nour on the same night, Hassan has to withdraw.

Years later, in 1973, Hassan meets Nadia, Nour’s daughter, and ends up believing to be her real father. Nadia has just lost her twin brother, who was found drowned, and Hassan is trying to help her with the morgue and the funeral. In one of the scenes, though, he commits what looks like incest, although whether anything happened is not clear. When the dead brother’s friend, a rather mentally retarded character, knocks at their door, Hassan quickly agrees to marry Nadia to him and, in the same night, the funeral tent becomes the wedding tent.

The final part of the movie, set in 2001, shows Hassan (now performed by Omar Sharif), an old man, meeting his grandson.

In short, the story sounds much better than it was developed on the screen. Apart from Sharif’s believable acting and the surprisingly good debut performance of Cyrine Abdel Nour, the movie had nothing to offer. The storytelling was abrupt and disconnected, the filming and editing very poor. There were no artistic merits, as for the technical qualities they were non-existent. 
A big pity!

silvia@khaleejtimes.com