The Suit or El Badla, directed by Mohammad Adel, is an Egyptian romantic comedy that follows two men who pretend to be police officers and get involved in an investigation to find a Spanish assassin who killed a prominent Egyptian scientist.
As discussed in Andrew Hammond’s essay on cinema and television, Egyptian cinema has long been at the forefront of cinema in the Arab world (Reynolds, 2016). Even when France tried to set up studios to counter Egypt’s nationalist cinema, Egypt’s stronghold on cinema remained (Reynolds, 2016). This film was a testament to Egypt’s maintenance of their standing as a leader of film in the Middle East. In 2018, the film was the first Arabic movie to be screened in Saudi Arabia in the kingdom’s history which further emphasizes the film’s prominence (‘El Badla’: First Arabic movie to screen in Saudi Arabia, 2018).
One of the interesting aspects of the film was that while it was a romantic comedy, there were not many truly romantic components in the movie. This seems to align with what is described in Hammond’s essay in the section about censorship. Egypt is known for being more conservative with romantic scenes even though they are okay with films including political statements (Reynolds, 2016). This is to satisfy the interest of conservative Islamists in Egypt whose interests were brought even more to the forefront with the uprisings in 2011 (Reynolds, 2016). I find this trend particularly interesting when comparing film trends in the west. Movies in western countries tend to have moved towards having more open risky romantic scenes, so it Is interesting to see how large of an impact the political arena has on the conservative nature of film on Egypt.
While the film is comedic, it takes a serious look at respectability politics in Egypt. The two main characters are framed initially as lazy, stupid, and unsuccessful men who no one had much respect for. When the two men are mistaken as police officers, public opinion on them changes completely, and they become widely respected by strangers. Nothing changed about the characters except their outfits. I believe the movie may be commenting on how some people can have unfounded respect for status symbols that are disconnected from the true character of an individual. This theme is seen particularly with the romantic relationship between Walid and Rim, two of the main characters in the film. If Walid had not come to Rim’s the party in the police suit, Rim probably would not have noticed him or had the same respect for him that caused her to agree to a date with him. Once Rim gets to know Walid better and finds out he is not actually a police officer, she still finds herself in love with him. Through this story line, the viewer can clearly see that Walid’s character is in no way linked to the arbitrary status symbol of the suit.
Overall, El Badla was a very enjoyable movie that contextualized many aspects of Egyptian film culture. The use of humor to convey an important critique of respectability politics was also skillful and added depth to the movie’s comedic plot. If you are looking for a comedic movie that will make you think a little, El Badla should be on your must-watch list. References‘El Badla’: First Arabic movie to screen in Saudi Arabia. Egypt Today. (2018, September 16).
https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/57603/%E2%80%98El-Badla%E2%80%99-First-Arabic-movie-to-screen-in-Saudi-Arabia. Reynolds, D. (2016). The Cambridge Companion to modern Arab culture. Cambridge University Press.