The Open Door as an Example of the Differences Between Egyptian Golden Age Film and Books
The Open Door by Latifah al-Zayyat was published in 1960. Its plot takes place in Egypt and focuses on nationalism in relation to the desire to discover oneself. The main character, Layla, struggles to find out who she really is. Layla deals with different love interests, the complexity of female status in Egyptian society, and the belief in Egyptian nationalism amidst the encroachment of Western powers. Through it all, Layla is able to discover herself during the Suez Canal Crisis and realizes that she is a strong person. Through this realization, she marries her true lover, Hussain, who is a very caring and respectful man unlike any other she has encountered before.
The Open Door was such an influential work that it was eventually made into a movie. However, the movie did have some noticeable differences from the original text. The first noticeable difference was the omission of the first chapter of the novel. The viewer is unable to understand the origins of the relationship between Layla and her parents due to this. Also, the viewer is not aware of Layla’s intellectual ability and her drive to be the smartest of her peers.
The movie also changes the exact moment when Layla appreciates who she is. In the novel, Layla removes her engagement ring from her finger in Port Said during a moment of self- realization. This scene also takes place during a nationalist uprising against the British, French,
and Israelis. In the movie, Hussain inspires Layla to be content with who she is during a bombing of Cairo. This results in Layla returning her engagement ring to Dr. Ramzi in person. The dichotomy between these scenes detracts from the overall theme that Latifah al-Zayyat was trying to establish. Layla is able to “find herself” through participation in nationalist movements in the novel, but in the movie, Layla finds inner peace through another person.
Al-Zayyat’s purpose for writing The Open Door was to establish the importance of nationalism in relation to an individual’s self-esteem. The movie takes away from this motif and, in my opinion, makes the plot worse. However, the producers and the directors of the movie may have made these changes in order to cater to an audience and facilitate the popularity of the movie. A plot with strong nationalist opinions would lose a portion of its desired audience due to a lack of agreement with
the ideas being pushed by the plot.
In conclusion, I thought that the book was better than movie, Latifah al-Zayyat was able to convey her thoughts in a very insightful way and allowed the reader to be introspective. The movie’s differences detracted from this aspect of the novel that was critical to its overall purpose