The widow of the late Egyptian writer Yousef Edris who wrote the story al Baidaa (White), criticizes the series based on the novel describing it as relatively lengthy and not tackling the political movement at that time in depth.
“The series maintained the spirit of the novel to a great extent but there was some elongation which I feared might lead to the loss of the real meaning of the novel. The novel does not depict the love story between Yahya and Greek Santi as a love between a man and a girl but it symbolizes it as the Egyptians and Arabs’ love to the Europeans represented by Santi,” Ragaa told the London based Arabic daily al Sharq al Awsat.
She added, “the series did not tackle the political movement in depth at that time but made it marginal. Moreover the magazine they worked for did not play its role but I admired the director’s ability in drawing the characters and highlighting the period during which the event took place.”
Moreover, the late writer’s widow believes that Shirin Saif al Naser did not master her role as Santi because the Greeks are not usually cold people. Also the flat where Yahya lives is luxurious while he is a socialist communist and a doctor at the beginning of his career. How can he afford to live this standard of living, Ragaa inquired?
For his part, screenwriter Mohammed al Rifae'i said, “the series tackles the events in Egypt during the period between 1950 –1952 when Cairo was burnt. I wanted to deepen the issue as I used the big fire in Cairo to indicate the annihilation of the corruption at that time. The series depicts part of Edris’s character and his experience with the Egyptian leftists.”
“Yahya’s speech to himself is an indication that the bad environment makes people live in isolated locations. Yahya suffers from severe contradiction between what he says and what he dreams of and faces a very personal crisis that he cannot disclose. There is clear indication on the relation between Yahya and Santi, which is the relation between the Egyptian intellectuals with the European culture. This is apparent in Yahya’s dialogue in the series when he mentions that he appreciates the British people and their way of life but he opposes them as occupiers only,” the screenwriter noted -- Albawaba.com
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
