"Afrita Hanem: The Genie Lady"

In my self-imposed bellydance education, I've been getting movies off Netflix, but mainly instructional movies.

Then, I realized that I could learn some more about the art, its movements and its history, through actual films.  One actress/dancer in particular that caught my attention was Samia Gamal.  It's a name I'm familiar with mainly through others in the bellydance community, but I'd be lying if I said I knew who she was.

Luckily, I found her on Netflix.  Specifically, I found "Afrita Hanem:  The Genie Lady."

Samia Gamal as Afrita Hanem

Here's how Netflix describes it:

The fortunes of down-on-his-luck crooner Asfour (Farid Al Atrache) change overnight when he discovers a mysterious lamp housing a charming genie (Samia Gamal) in this sweet comedy. She can make anything he wishes come true, so he asks for help in luring his distracted girlfriend from the charms of a rich competitor. But Asfour soon learns he should be careful what to wish for, as he soon realizes his heart may lie elsewhere.

Here's how Amazon describes it:

Meet Asfour (Farid Al Atrache), a poor singer/actor who stumbles upon a magic lamp and its wish-granting genie (Samia Gamal). When he uses his new-found power to woo his gold-digging girlfriend away from her rich suitor, Asfour discovers that his genie has a few wishes of her own. Sure to delight and entertain, this classic film stars two of Egypt's cinematic legends in an innovative and endearing blend of comedy, fantasy and musical genres. 

I could write a review about the movie.  But, reviews are out there already, as story descriptions are already out there.  So, I just wanted to talk about my impressions of the film and about some of the things that I learned.

I hope this doesn't come across in a wrong way...but films not made in the US are so similar!! One thing that struck me about the film was that the actors were also singers or dancers or musicians, which I've also seen in Filipino media.  Bollywood is one major example of the multiple talents that get exhibited on the big screen.  It just makes sense that all the mediums would melt together in one way or another.  Personally, I definitely enjoyed listening to Farid Al Atrache's "Asfour" croon about his unrequited love, as his character was also a singer.  I'll be honest here, I listened intently to the songs in the hopes of hearing something familiar.

Also, similar to many of the cheesy movies in the Philippines, there's one character who provides the comic relief.  Ismail Yaseen's character, "Bou'ou," was quite a clown, pulling some physical gags and hilarious facial expressions.

Then of course, there's the beautiful Samia Gamal.  Yes, she is a fabulous dancer - though I was almost surprised by how little she actually moved around.  But her face lit up the screen.  She was so graceful and elegant.  If you want to learn about having presence as a bellydancer, or even as a lady, she's a great role model.  In a way, she reminded me of Carmen Miranda...mainly because of their huge smiles.

See?  Smiley!

Another thing that reminded me of Carmen Miranda was how she represents an entire culture and art at the time.  It seems like "Afrita Hanem," which was released in 1949, was somewhat meant to attract audiences from around the world.  This seemed to be a time when all "sirens of the screen" fit a specific mold - sexy and talented.  Even though the costumes are different, their ornate clothes were quite similar in imagining the "exotic."

The fact that Samia Gamal played a Genie in this movie also seemed interesting to me, as it just brings out stereotypes of the Middle East.  Though she's been in dozens of movies, this was 1 out of 3 movies of her's on Netflix - and one of them is only a collection of clips from other movies.

Finally, and most importantly, I thoroughly enjoyed that Samia Gamal's characters, Kahramana the Genie and Semsema the Dancer, were both very independent and outspoken women.  Though Kahramana was more focused on getting the guy and Semsema was more interested in the job at first, I liked that they would say and do whatever they wanted.  Kahramana's mischievous actions were hilarious - causing little bits of trouble for the main character, also the only person who could see her.  Meanwhile, Semsema continuously yelled out something that translated to "No way, Jose!" in the subtitles.  Hilarious!

I'm sure I could go into a whole Women's Studies tangent about how Samia Gamal was still very much under the control of the male main character, as he was her master as the Genie and her boss as the Dancer.  But they were gifts meant to enhance his life if he were willing to open his eyes and heart to the possibility.  They loved him for love, and not because of his assets.

Not a bad lesson for a movie in the 50's.