Composition for an Egyptian Silent Film
September 13, 2010 Leave a comment
“Barsoum Looks for a Job”
“Solo Violin”
(Op. 30-1998)
“Barsoum Looks for a Job”, Film Music for a silent movie
(Premier: Cairo Opera House September 1998)
Mohamed Abdelwahab AbdelfattahFattah
د.محمد عبدالوهاب عبدالفتاح
This composition was commissioned from the Goethe Institute in Cairo in order to participate in the Egyptian-European Festival of Silent Movies with Live Music. The composer chose an Egyptian movie tilted “Barsoum Looks for a Job“; the first historical silent comic movie in Egypt, which was directed by the pioneer of Egyptian movies “Mohamed Bayoumi“ (1923). The film, which was restored under the supervision of Mohamed Kamel El-Qaliouby, starred Beshara Wakin, a Christian in the role of the Muslim, and Abdel-Hamid, a Muslim in the role of the Christian, as well as the Jewish actor, Victor Cohen, in the role of the bank director. This manner of cast and characterisation was repeated in several other comic films and made obvious even in their titles: Hassan wa Morqos wa Cohen and Fatma wa Marika wa Rachel, for example.
Bayoumi’s 12-minute film — low budget, produced, directed and, probably, financed by Bayoumi — is an early example of independent cinema.
“Barsoum Looking For A Job”, 1923, was the opening film at the UNESCO celebration of the centenary of cinema in Paris on 9 January in 1995, the International Year for Tolerance. It depicts the friendship of Shiekh Metwali, the muslim and Barsoum, the Copt (Egyptian Christian). Both of them are poor and compete for the same modest job at a bank. Because of a misunderstanding, the bank director invites them for lunch thinking that they are coming to do business. The director discovers their true identity. He realized that the two were not wealthy business men and he throws them out. They lay content and sleep on the pavement but a policeman comes and arrests them and leads them to jail
The topic of this movie is an appeal for tolerance between muslims and copts people in Egypt during the revolution of 1919. We see Barsoum pray in front of a photograph of Saint Mary, under which there are the crescent, the cross, and the photograph of Saad Zaghloul, the leader of the revolution of 1919, showing the motto of unity between muslims and copts.; one of the slogans of the revolution.
This composition consists of an introduction and 7 music scenes in addition to the final scene. The composer tries to create a marriage between the historical visual scene and his contemporary music. The music is composed to play “live” and to be in parallel synchronization with each scene. The composer translates the visual content which exists in each scene into a specific unified music paragraph. He wrote some instrumental sound effects in a funny way such as glissando and pizzicato to express the comic scenes. He used to construct his melodies in Arabic Maqams but in a free post modern style including some western articulation techniques. One of those melodies was written as a basic skeleton in Taqasim; an improvisation style which is distinguished by some flageolets.
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